Planning in the São Paulo Macrometropolis: Research Balance and Emerging Themes

The article is a reflective synthesis of the research conducted under the subproject “Territorialities, spatialities, and innovation in environmental governance”, developed in the Laboratory of Planning (LaPlan), the Laboratory of Risk Management (LabGRis) of UFABC and the Group for Monitoring and Studies in Environmental Governance (GovAmb/USP), which configure the G2. The research environment involves issues related to planning, as a field of knowledge and practices, and territorialities, with their structures and dynamics, both affected by vectors of change such as climate change and those arising from the development model having as spatial cut out the São Paulo Macrometropolis (SPMM). In the chapter are discussed values and visions of the planning field and of the researchers that permeate the production of knowledge and reflection, such as: public interest, sustainability, social and environmental justice in a context of post-normal science. The methodology used to produce the reflective synthesis was constructed from workshops. Initially the researchers presented their individual research (Scientific initiation, masters, doctoral, and post-doctoral) around the clusters, seeking to highlight founding and emerging aspects. Beyond the result per se of the grouped themes, the article registers the research path within the group that is expressed in the diverse and complementary content of the three resulting articles. At the end of this synthesis, scenarios and challenges for research and territorial planning in the SPMM are explored.