The City Statute ( pt, Estatuto da Cidade) is a federal law (Law 10.257) passed in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in 2001 that builds on the Federal Constitution of Brazil to create a new legal-urban order to provide land access and equity in large urban cities. It is premised on the idea of the

Right to the city The right to the city is an idea and a slogan first proposed by Henri Lefebvre in his 1968 book . This idea has been taken up more recently by social movements, thinkers, and certain progressive local authorities as a call to action to reclaim th ...

and emerged as a result of many years of popular struggle."Implementing the Right to the City in Brazil?"
''Sustainable Cities Collective'', 2012 It has two main functions. The first is to ensure that the 'social function' of urban land and buildings is put before their commercial value. This has been defined as "the prioritization of

use value Use value (german: Gebrauchswert) or value in use is a concept in classical political economy and Marxist economics. It refers to the tangible features of a commodity (a tradeable object) which can satisfy some human requirement, want or need, or ...

over exchange value". The second is to ensure 'democratic city management'. This has been defined as "a path to plan, produce, operate and govern cities subject to social control and participation."

Critiques

It has been argued that, although the legislation is pro-poor, elite actors have been able to use their power to operate in a manner that still privileges elite interests.Misusing the City Statute in São Paulo
Patricia Rodrigues Samora, ''Polis'', 2012

References

External links

The City Statute of Brazil: A commentary
''The Cities Alliance'', 2010
Implementing the Right to the City in Brazil?
''Sustainable Cities Collective, 2012 Urban planning Slums in South America Brazilian legislation {{Brazil-law-stub