Environmental inequality in the City of São Paulo, Brazil: analysis of differential exposure of social groups to situations of environmental risk by using geoprocessing methodologies

Abstract

This article represents an effort at making operational the concept of environmental inequality, in order to identify and analyze situations of environmental inequality in the City of São Paulo, Brazil, by using geoprocessing methodologies. The objective is to identify and measure the association between unfavorable socioeconomic conditions and greater exposure to environmental risks, by analyzing the level of risk exposure of different social groups in São Paulo. The results show that, in all social groups, people living in risky areas have much lower socioeconomic conditions than those who living in other places. The results also show that environmental inequality in São Paulo has been increasing in recent years.