Before the Ibirapuera Park: the history of a void (1890 - 1954)

Abstract

The disputes between the public and private sectors in relation to the Ibirapuera Park return to debate with the proposal of the new mayor of São Paulo, to grant the management of some of the main green areas of the city to companies. In fact, the theme has never left the agenda, although it has taken on different forms along time. This article brings together a variety of documents of diverse natures, mainly found in the Municipal Historic Archives, concerning conflicts over ownership or usufruct of land within the area designated as a park. The period analyzed covers the years between the destination of the lands in 1926 and the realization of the park in 1954. Our purpose is to highlight the multiple interests in the area, taken not only between individuals but also between important either public and private institutions who sought to settle in that region and were better or worse succeeded in their advance over the large public terrain reserved in that noble stretch of the urban fabric. With this aim in view, we seek to inform the current discussion about the park, with relevant historical data on the process of preservation of the empty site before its implementation, in order to evidence these conflicts.