Competition urban requalification of São Paulo Municipal Market area

an academic experience report

Abstract

The article reports on the academic experience of coordinating the Urban Requalification Competition for the Surroundings of the São Paulo Municipal Market, held in 2023 by IAB-SP with the support of Escola da Cidade and FAU-USP. Grounded in a theoretical reflection on the definition of the public interest, it describes the organizational process, including the articulation among private, public, and academic actors, the formulation of the terms of reference, and the outcomes achieved. It highlights the competition’s methodological innovation in reversing the usual logic of urban management by anticipating the project as the trigger for any subsequent action. Despite the absence of award-winning proposals, the experience is validated as a practice at the intermediate scale of urban planning – between master plans and building projects – and reaffirms the importance of academic engagement in legitimizing processes of territorial transformation.