Z8-200 in progress: paths and impasses in the cultural preservation through zoning in São Paulo (São Paulo, Brazil) during the 1980s

ABSTRACT In 1975, the first instrument for cultural heritage preservation was established in São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil: the Z8-200 Special Zone. Its constitution meant the beginning of an innovative experience in the city, consistent with other urban preservation initiatives of that period, such as the 1979 Corredor Cultural in Rio de Janeiro. As part of the general zoning law, the Z8-200 represented an alternative to the traditional Heritage List, as it had not been established at the municipal level at that point. Its structure was well-founded and permeated with urban guidelines, although it presented some important limitations in practice. After a brief characterization of the instrument and its background, this article discusses the development and contradictions related to its implementation during the 1980s. This period is marked, on the one hand, by the regulation of the instrument, seeking to strengthen and encourage preservation through zoning, in reaction to the loss of significant cultural buildings in the city. On the other hand, the same decade witnessed the instrument’s emptying, susceptible to political circumstances, paving the way for the establishment of the Municipal Council for Preservation (Conpresp), which would assume the prerogative to defend the city’s cultural heritage.