Metropolitan Environmental Health: Asymmetrical Knowledge and Management in São Paulo, Brazil

Metropolitan areas have been seen as empty political arenas even though there is a renewed interest in discussing the need for their integrated management. In this context environmental and health issues have come into the spotlight, as political and administrative fragmentation does not assist in dealing with the spread of different pollutants which do not adhere to administrative, or even natural boundaries. This paper aims to explore the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Region (SPMR), Brazil, encompassing 39 municipalities, taking into account an unequal distribution of knowledge and administrative efforts in addressing environmental health issues. The study was conducted by using secondary indicators provided by public institutions and by undertaking a bibliographical review. Sao Paulo municipality, as the capital city, concentrates demands for environmental services as well as the need for pollution dispersion, both of which cross municipal boundaries. There is greater concentration of knowledge about the Sao Paulo municipality, for example the main research effort towards understanding the health impacts of air pollution focuses on its spatial limits. It also centralizes public policies to control atmospheric emissions but these cannot solve the larger, regional problem. In relation to public water supply there is a clear distinction between municipalities that have a greater demand for water and those that produce it, since the latter often present inferior economic and social conditions. This situation reveals extremely asymmetrical relations within the metropolitan space and points to the need to use strategic indicators to induce actions involving health, environment and other public administrative sectors.