Urban social housing in Brazil, forced removals at Campos Elíseos, and Accounting: A framing through Milton Santos

Abstract

This study explores the financialisation of housing policy in Brazil with focus on how accounting practices facilitated this, including forced removals in Campos Elíseos, São Paulo, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using Santos’ Two Circuits Theory, the study explores how financialisation reinforces socio-spatial inequalities by displacing marginalised communities under the guise of urban development. Drawing from archival records, policy documents, and social movement reports, the study employs Situational Analysis to map out the complex dynamics of urban interventions and forced removals. The study reveals that under the guise of urban revitalisation, local elites and financial actors exploited the pandemic to accelerate forced evictions, disregarding court injunctions and legal protections. Accounting practices were utilised in legitimising neoliberal policies, which framed access to housing as a commodity rather than as a right. The findings indicate that financialisation benefits the upper urban circuit and exacerbates inequality in the lower circuit, displacing vulnerable residents without adequate housing provisions. Nascent counter accounting is indicated. The study calls for re-evaluation of housing policies, prioritising public accountability and social justice, and advocates for more counter accounting challenging the neoliberal housing model.