Our beloved Avenue of the Owls is undergoing an accelerating rate of rezoning — a fancy supermarket  with a café that makes excellent pastéis and an office and retail property just around the corner.

They even put in asphalt. So much for the medieval charm of our paralelipípedos. I suppose we had better pay attention.

Source:  Carta Maior.

Topic: Housing Tax, Urban Renewal

In the next few days, São Paulo city hall will begin notifying the owners of 150 unused and underused  properties in the expanded downtown area of São Paulo about PEUC, a tax incentive plan that provides for Compulsory Parcelization, Construction and Use of real properties.

The measure, included in the Strategic Master Plan as a means of guaranteeing the socially valuable use of private property, serves as an ultimatum to landlords: If their properties are vacant or the built-up area they occupy falls short of the target set for each…