Housing the Poor and the Sustainability Context in Brazil: A Study of the Brazilian Building Sector Challenges for the Future

Authors: Luis Felipe Bismarchi (University of Sao Paulo) and Maria Cecília Loschiavo dos Santos
(University of Sao Paulo), (PhD)

 

The green wave of sustainability is getting bigger everyday and as consumers’
awareness is increasing so are their demands for socio-environmental
responsibility. That is the scenario the Brazilian building sector, one of the world´s
biggest polluters, must face in order to continue developing. The expected
investment for the next 4 years in this sector is more than US$ 165 billion in order
to deal with the over $6 million housing units deficit and the growing demand due
to the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic games. This paper aims to present the
Brazilian building sector situation towards the sustainability context and the
challenges it must face to succeed. Workforce qualification, partnerships among
actors, search for continuous innovation and competition, a performance-based
legal and regulation framework and constant investments are the main challenges –
and tools – to overcome the obstacles towards the sustainability goal.

 

Keywords: Brazil, housing, sustainability.