São Paulo, Brazil

Photo by Luciana Minami/City of São Paulo

Photo by Luciana Minami/City of São Paulo

Photo by Luciana Minami/City of São Paulo

Photo by Luciana Minami/City of São Paulo

Photo by Luciana Minami/City of São Paulo

Photo by Luciana Minami/City of São Paulo

Photo by Luciana Minami/City of São Paulo

Photo by Luciana Minami/City of São Paulo

Photo by Luciana Minami/City of São Paulo

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Initiative: City of São Paulo’s Rain Gardens

City:	São Paulo
Country:	Brazil
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The city of São Paulo has 12.3 million inhabitants and is organized into 32 districts, located in administrative areas with territorial limits established according to socioeconomic parameters and indicators.

São Paulo is a metropolis facing complex issues, and the city’s Municipal Administration is under the need to find effective, timely and economically feasible solutions.

The main services offered by the Municipal Department for Subdistricts [in charge for the Rain Gardens] are related to city-wide management, inspection and land-use and occupation. A connection between sustainable practices and technology is widely encouraged in the provision of these services.

The Rain Gardens are Nature-based Solutions highly efficient in flood control, with other major benefits: (i) retain solid pollutants, chemicals and waste before the water returns to the soil, (ii) control sediments from rainwater runoff, and (iii) prevent the reproduction of vector-borne insects by draining water within 48 hours.

São Paulo develops seven types of Rain Gardens: traditional, green spaces, urban conservation woods, pavements with infiltration wells, land art, green stairs and bioswales.

With the increasing acknowledgement and cost-effective development of this micro-drainage solution, the city of São Paulo mapped locations with historical flooding problems and additional areas for the implementation of the Rain Gardens.

Currently, São Paulo has more than 200 Rain Gardens and has set the goal of achieving more than 400 by 2024