Alphaville, São Paulo

Alphaville (Portuguese pronunciation: [awfaˈvili]) is the commercial name of a real estate and gated communities development in Brazil and Portugal, constituted by a number of business and residential condominia. The name evokes the "first among cities" concept (ville as French for city, and alpha being the first letter of Greek alphabet). The concept has been widely copied in Brazil and abroad.

The Alphaville concept was created by a building company in São Paulo City, Albuquerque & Takaoka in the 1970s. The São Paulo megalopolis was beginning to show an upward trend in crime rates, traffic jams and other forms of urban malaise, and consequently suburban developments gained popularity, both for modern industrial and commercial ventures and for wealthy and upper-middle class residents of the city. The company bought large farm areas in the neighbouring counties of Barueri and Santana do Parnaíba and urbanized it. The then recently built Castelo Branco Highway provided a fast and easy access from São Paulo downtown to the new area. The lots were sold initially for commercial and industrial development, but soon demand for lots for residential purposes arose. The residential lots to gated luxury horizontal condominia (for building family houses) were swiftly sold out.

Presently, the original Alphaville site (23 km from São Paulo) has 33 gated areas, with more than 20,000 residences. The business area is already a small city, with 2,300 businesses, including 11 schools and universities, with a daily movement of more than 150,000 people. Due to the high traffic to and from São Paulo city (most of the residents work or study there), the Castelo Branco Highway had to be expanded and is now a toll road, with a tolled spur road specifically for Alphaville. A police organization with more than 1100 officers is in force in an attempt to keep the gated communities safe.

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Wikipedia