The river, the railway and the highway: infrastructure and environment in the occupation of the Tietê floodplain in São Paulo

Abstract This paper approaches the ocupation of environmentally sensitive areas in the metropolis of São Paulo, aiming to explain the historical materialization of the floodplain between the neighborhoods of Lapa and Barra Funda, which had the river, the railway and the highways as structuring elements. Through the construction of a historical narrative, mediated by the exercise of interpretative cartography, this paper explains the emergence of the urban landscape on the floodplain, revealing its structuring elements and its occupation, conditioned by different rationalities, and elucidating its current material condition, the basis for the application of contemporary urban instruments. As a result, we highlight the creation of a fragmented landscape and present the allegories that articulate a reflection on the role of infrastructure in the occupation of the natural territory.