São Paulo mayor battles resistance to ease gridlock

São Paulo

FOR decades, the authorities transformed this megacity into a case study of dystopian sprawl, razing tree-lined plazas, demolishing architectural gems, underinvesting in public transportation and blighting wide swathes with an elevated highway and colossal, Eastern bloc-style apartment complexes.

The middle class largely retreated behind gated communities, and some in the elite opted to commute by helicopter, rather than set foot on São Paulo's mazelike streets.