The TJSP (São Paulo Court of Justice) denied, this Friday (12), a request from City Hall and maintained the suspension of the Boulevard São João Projectwhich included the installation of large LED panels and mapped projections in the central region of the capital and which became known as “Times Square do Centro”.
The rapporteur denied the request for suspensive effect that had been made by the City of São Paulomaintaining the preliminary interruption that prohibits the beginning of any work and the formalization of the cooperation contract with a private company.
The prohibitions include the installation of LED panels (with dimensions between 300 m² and 1,000 m²) in the Cine Paris República, Herculano de Almeida, Galeria Sampa and New York buildings and carrying out mapped projections in the Independência II Building.
The injunction that suspended the project, compromising the democratic legitimacy of the process, and highlighted the risk of irreversible damage to historical and cultural heritage and urban landscape of the central region.
Regarding the public consultation, the Court noted that the approval of the project by the CPPU (Urban Landscape Protection Commission) took place on March 13, while the deadline for the population to express their views on the project on the “Participate+” platform was still open, scheduled to close on the 24th of the same month.
The authors of the popular action that resulted in the suspension claim that there is a deviation from purposeand argue that the provided for in the Clean City Law, which combats visual pollution in the city of São Paulo, should only be used for small improvementsand not for interventions of the magnitude of the Boulevard Project.
Regarding preservation of historical and cultural heritagethe Court considers that the immediate installation of the panels could cause relevant changes to these locations and the urban landscape of the central region.
The rapporteur highlighted that the suspension preserves the current state of the city of São Paulo until all evidence and technical opinions are analyzed in depth. For the analysis to continue, the TJSP requested that the municipality present documents such as:
- The full draft of the cooperation agreement.
- The full minutes of the CPPU meeting with all 29 conditions approved.
- The complete report of the public consultation and the comments received.
- Technical opinions from SMUL, São Paulo Urbanismo and records of previous CONPRESP deliberations.
In a note to CNN Brazilthe City of São Paulo stated that it “reiterates the importance of the Boulevard São João project for the revitalization of the central region of the city, as an action to stimulate the economic recovery of the area and to enhance the historical heritage”.
The municipal administration also highlighted that the proposal was unanimously approved by Conpresp, after technical analysis by the competent bodies, as well as by the CPPU (Urban Landscape Protection Commission). The municipality said it has not yet been notified of the aforementioned decision.
Find out more about the project
O Boulevard Project is an initiative led by the Municipal Secretariat of Urbanism and Licensing, which aims to objective of revitalizing the center of São Paulothrough a technological activation that includes the activation of LED panels in the Central Region of the capital.
Regarding the Boulevard São João Project, Mayor Ricardo Nunes stated, in a press conference held in April,
The mayor also stated that the environment that will be built does not need to be frequented by everyone. “You don’t have to go there, you know? You don’t want to go, you don’t go! But let the millions of people who want to go there, spend, drink beer, eat a kebab, see the events, take photos, ‘instagram’ and we can have a nice and safe environment there”, he added.
*Under the supervision of Carolina Figueiredo
