Expansive laws for urban sprawl: Campinas without limits

Abstract One of the main answers that the municipal urban management must give is regarding which direction and how the Brazilian cities must expand. Master plans, urban land division, urban perimeter laws and zoning, consolidate rules that should not only control but drive urban growth. The municipal urban laws legalize the production of urban space and standards to the approval of allotment projects and urban sprawl. Such municipal laws are not always neutral and aligned with the federal laws. This article aims to evaluate the role of the urban laws that determine the urban sprawl of Campinas City - SP, and to verify the alignment or conflicts in between the laws. Through literature review, analysis of the laws and directed interview, we determined that the municipal laws, which guide the urban sprawl of Campinas, compose a conflicting, permissive and illegal legislative picture, in comparison with the present federal norms on urban sprawl and land division.