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TWELVE The Impacts of Socio-Spatial Inequity: COVID-19 in São Paulo

  • Roberto Rocco , Beatriz Kara José , Higor Carvalho und Luciana Royer
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Volume 1: Community and Society
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Volume 1: Community and Society

Abstract

This chapter addresses the multidimensional impacts of the COVID- 19 pandemic on the lives of citizens of one of the largest and most unequal metropolises in the world, São Paulo. It is widely recognized that Brazil’s response to the COVID- 19 pandemic has been more than flawed, with a disproportionate impact on poor and indigenous communities (Curtice, 2020; The Lancet, 2020). The virulent politicization of the pandemic set the powerful federal government, in the hands of a far- right populist, on a collision course with the interests of federal states and cities in Brazil. While the Brazilian president has repeatedly denied the gravity of the pandemic, states and cities struggled to impose partial lockdowns and to organize medical responses, in the face of contradictory policy being enacted in their distant capital, Brasilia. This chapter describes the structural circumstances that led São Paulo to become one of the cities worse affected by the virus, leading to the almost complete collapse of its public health system. While COVID- 19 was initially perceived as the ‘great equalizer’, infecting all regardless of race or social class, it soon became apparent that marked socio- spatial inequity means the effects of the pandemic are felt differently by various socio- economic groups in the city (see Xavier, Volume 2).

In order to approach these differences from a multidimensional perspective, we give accounts of three lifestories under the pandemic that illustrate these issues. These short accounts outline the daily lives of three ‘Paulistanos’ (inhabitants of São Paulo) who must negotiate urban space and access citizens’ rights in radically diverse ways.

Abstract

This chapter addresses the multidimensional impacts of the COVID- 19 pandemic on the lives of citizens of one of the largest and most unequal metropolises in the world, São Paulo. It is widely recognized that Brazil’s response to the COVID- 19 pandemic has been more than flawed, with a disproportionate impact on poor and indigenous communities (Curtice, 2020; The Lancet, 2020). The virulent politicization of the pandemic set the powerful federal government, in the hands of a far- right populist, on a collision course with the interests of federal states and cities in Brazil. While the Brazilian president has repeatedly denied the gravity of the pandemic, states and cities struggled to impose partial lockdowns and to organize medical responses, in the face of contradictory policy being enacted in their distant capital, Brasilia. This chapter describes the structural circumstances that led São Paulo to become one of the cities worse affected by the virus, leading to the almost complete collapse of its public health system. While COVID- 19 was initially perceived as the ‘great equalizer’, infecting all regardless of race or social class, it soon became apparent that marked socio- spatial inequity means the effects of the pandemic are felt differently by various socio- economic groups in the city (see Xavier, Volume 2).

In order to approach these differences from a multidimensional perspective, we give accounts of three lifestories under the pandemic that illustrate these issues. These short accounts outline the daily lives of three ‘Paulistanos’ (inhabitants of São Paulo) who must negotiate urban space and access citizens’ rights in radically diverse ways.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents v
  3. List of Figures and Tables ix
  4. Notes on Contributors xi
  5. Acknowledgments xvii
  6. Preface to All Four Volumes of Global Reflections on COVID-19 and Urban Inequalities xviii
  7. Introduction 1
  8. Working Practices
  9. Street Vendor Struggles: Maintaining a Livelihood Through the COVID-19 Lockdown in Hanoi, Vietnam 21
  10. The Man and the Scooter: How the Low-Income Worker Helps Save a Locked-Down City 31
  11. The Hidden Inequities and Divisions among Workers in the US: The Domestic Workers’ Workforce as Non-Essential Workers 41
  12. Reflections of Living ‘Hand-to-Mouth’ among ‘Hustlers’ During COVID-19: Insights on the Realities of Poverty in Jamaica 51
  13. Looking at Urban Inequalities Regarding Different Jobs in the Age of COVID-19: Who Stayed at Home, Who Did Not? 61
  14. Life During Lockdown
  15. Ageist Transport Infrastructures: Rethinking Public Transport amid COVID-19 Lockdowns in India 73
  16. The Pandemic and Food Insecurity in Small Cities of the Global South: A Case Study of Noapara in Bangladesh 83
  17. How Governments’ Response to the Pandemic Exacerbate Gender Inequalities in Belarus and Ukraine: Comparative Analysis of Minsk and Kyiv Cases 93
  18. Infrastructure Inequality and Privileged Capacity to Transform Everyday Life in COVID-19 South Africa 105
  19. Under Quarantine in a City Project: Stories of Fear, Family, Food, and Community 117
  20. The Impacts of Socio-Spatial Inequity: COVID-19 in São Paulo 129
  21. Migration, Migrants, and Refugees
  22. Liminality, Gender, and Ethnic Dynamics in Urban Space: COVID-19 and its Consequences for Young Female Migrants (YFM) in Dhaka 143
  23. Spatial Inequality and Colonial Palimpsest in Kuala Lumpur 155
  24. The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Travails of Rohingya Refugees in the Largest Bangladeshi Refugee Camp 165
  25. Singapore’s Pandemic Governance and Deepening Marginalization of Migrant Workmen 175
  26. Age, Race, Gender, and Ability
  27. Experiential Equity: An Environmental Neuroscientific Lens for Disparities in Urban Stress 187
  28. What is the Relationship between COVID-19 and the Movement to ‘Defund the Police’? 197
  29. Following the Voices of Older Adults During the COVID-19 Crisis: Perspectives from the Netherlands 209
  30. The Role of Social Infrastructures for Trans* People During the COVID-19 Pandemic 223
  31. COVID-19 and Blind Spaces: Responding to Digital (In)Accessibility and Social Isolation During Lockdown for Blind, Deafblind, Low Vision, and Vision Impaired Persons in Aotearoa New Zealand 235
  32. Conclusion 245
  33. Index 251
https://doi.org/10.56687/9781529218893-016

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Front Matter i
  2. Contents v
  3. List of Figures and Tables ix
  4. Notes on Contributors xi
  5. Acknowledgments xvii
  6. Preface to All Four Volumes of Global Reflections on COVID-19 and Urban Inequalities xviii
  7. Introduction 1
  8. Working Practices
  9. Street Vendor Struggles: Maintaining a Livelihood Through the COVID-19 Lockdown in Hanoi, Vietnam 21
  10. The Man and the Scooter: How the Low-Income Worker Helps Save a Locked-Down City 31
  11. The Hidden Inequities and Divisions among Workers in the US: The Domestic Workers’ Workforce as Non-Essential Workers 41
  12. Reflections of Living ‘Hand-to-Mouth’ among ‘Hustlers’ During COVID-19: Insights on the Realities of Poverty in Jamaica 51
  13. Looking at Urban Inequalities Regarding Different Jobs in the Age of COVID-19: Who Stayed at Home, Who Did Not? 61
  14. Life During Lockdown
  15. Ageist Transport Infrastructures: Rethinking Public Transport amid COVID-19 Lockdowns in India 73
  16. The Pandemic and Food Insecurity in Small Cities of the Global South: A Case Study of Noapara in Bangladesh 83
  17. How Governments’ Response to the Pandemic Exacerbate Gender Inequalities in Belarus and Ukraine: Comparative Analysis of Minsk and Kyiv Cases 93
  18. Infrastructure Inequality and Privileged Capacity to Transform Everyday Life in COVID-19 South Africa 105
  19. Under Quarantine in a City Project: Stories of Fear, Family, Food, and Community 117
  20. The Impacts of Socio-Spatial Inequity: COVID-19 in São Paulo 129
  21. Migration, Migrants, and Refugees
  22. Liminality, Gender, and Ethnic Dynamics in Urban Space: COVID-19 and its Consequences for Young Female Migrants (YFM) in Dhaka 143
  23. Spatial Inequality and Colonial Palimpsest in Kuala Lumpur 155
  24. The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Travails of Rohingya Refugees in the Largest Bangladeshi Refugee Camp 165
  25. Singapore’s Pandemic Governance and Deepening Marginalization of Migrant Workmen 175
  26. Age, Race, Gender, and Ability
  27. Experiential Equity: An Environmental Neuroscientific Lens for Disparities in Urban Stress 187
  28. What is the Relationship between COVID-19 and the Movement to ‘Defund the Police’? 197
  29. Following the Voices of Older Adults During the COVID-19 Crisis: Perspectives from the Netherlands 209
  30. The Role of Social Infrastructures for Trans* People During the COVID-19 Pandemic 223
  31. COVID-19 and Blind Spaces: Responding to Digital (In)Accessibility and Social Isolation During Lockdown for Blind, Deafblind, Low Vision, and Vision Impaired Persons in Aotearoa New Zealand 235
  32. Conclusion 245
  33. Index 251
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Heruntergeladen am 1.10.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.56687/9781529218893-016/html
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