Even in its most profitable city, Brazil’s inequality is getting worse

Despite its status as Brazil’s largest, most lucrative city with a reputation for big business, new research from NGO Nossa Rede São Paulo shows just how deep the metropolis’ inequalities run. And these inequalities are not signs of Brazil’s recession taking its toll on the city, according to researchers working on the report. Instead, they say, the NGO’s ‘Map of Inequality’ has revealed that the city’s government places more emphasis on catering to business interests than it does on helping the public. And moreover, this has been the case since the NGO first began collecting annual research in 2012.

“Governments are structured to defend private interests,” said Jorge Abrahão, the NGO’s research coordinator, at the report’s launch. “There was no significant reduction in inequality or improvement in the quality of life.”

The NGO’s 2017 map looks at indicators of social development across the city. Some indicators show a distinct gap: life expectancy between residents in the neighborhoods of Jardim Paulista, located centrally, and Jardim Ângela, on the periphery, differs by some 24 years.

Meanwhile, the neighborhoods with the...