Brazil is one of a group of poor countries with high levels of urbanization. In 1940, 31 percent of the country’s population lived in cities. In 2000 that figure reached 81 percent – 138 million people (IBGE, 2000). That means that many of Brazil’s social problems, such as poverty, violence, crime, and inequality, are now urban and demand solutions in cities. The country has nine metropolitan regions, almost all located on the coast. This is a consequence of the colonial exploration of the territory, with the formation of port cities or cities on plateau near the coast, which channeled the wealth brought from the interior. This pattern has not changed, despite initiatives by the Brazilian Government to colonize and develop the inland regions. Among the nine metropolises, São Paulo stands out as being the largest in South America, with approximately 16 million inhabitants, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 10 million inhabitants. Only 500 km apart, the two cities form an urban agglomeration that could be compared with the “single metropolis” form of other Latin American countries, despite the federal government’s relocation at the end of the 1950s, from Rio de Janeiro to Brasília, the modernistic capital built in the central region of the country.  

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