USA and Brazil: global role dynamic areas• Text: 2 Americas Brazil vs. USA• Video: Brazil’s Rising Star 60 minutes

1. Strong insertion in the global economy

• Brazil and the U.S. are two major agricultural and industrial powers– Except Vale and Petrobras, few Brazilian

firms compete against American ones– US firms dominate on the world stage: • Agro-food business (Cargill, Kraft Foods), • IT (Microsoft, IMB, Apple), • petroleum (Exxon, Mobil), • pharmaceutical (Pfizer)

Both countries possess a vast domestic market which stimulates the service sector

Unbeatable superiority of US firms in several industries:• insurance (AIG)• retail (Walmart)• entertainment (Time Warner, Walt Disney)

Rapidly evolving economic sectors in Brazil •rising standard of living •emergence of a strong middle class

Brazilian Growth is much more sustained than the U.S.’

• Mostly due to flows of FDI– 1st trade partner with Brazil is China– 1st foreign investor = China • $30 B in 2010 vs 5 B in the U.S.

• Despite this, Brazil ranks only 21st as global exporter of merchandise

2. Political-military influence very unbalanced

• American power based on an enormous military-industrial complex– Largest military budget in world ($600 B/yr)– U.S. Military force twice the size of Brazil’s– Global military deployment by the U.S.

• Plays the role of the world police• Often denounced as imperialistic

Brazilian political cartoonist: Latuff 2011Title: Obama arrives in RioBubble: Where’s the petroleum?

Brazil’s Political Weight is largely inferior to the U.S.

• Brazil’s diplomatic influence on the world stage remains very low– Despite Brazil’s recent extension of its

embassies network – Despite sending the largest contingent

of UN peacekeeping forces to Haiti

Brazil is self-proclaimed political spokesperson of the South

• Former president Lula activated his South-South solidarity with emerging and Portuguese-speaking countries

• WTO: Lula criticized protectionism of Northern countries

• Brazil has evolved from net receiver of development aid to net giver– BUT Brazilian aid remains much inferior to that of the

U.S.

Cultural Americanization (Soft Power)

• US has initiated cultural models which are spread worldwide–Malls, fast-food, mainstream culture

(cinema, TV series, social media) characterize the American model of mass consumption

– Based on the “American dream”, the American way of Life attracts the largest immigrant population in the world

Brazil unable to rival U.S. cultural domination

• Brazil great producers of TV series exported in more than 130 countries (primarily Eastern Europe and Middle East)

• Brazilian culture has reduced impact due to lack of Portuguese speakers on world stage

Cultural hegemony of Brazil is more regional than global

• Main media group in Latin America : Globo– Television, cinema, press

• Brazil’s ambitions are planetary - organizing international sporting events – Football World Cup in 2014 – The Olympic Games in 2016 (Rio de Janeiro)

5. U.S., Brazil: Territories which reflect their power

A. 2 immense territories but unequally controlled– Surface area of US 9.8 million km²– Surface area of Brazil 8.5 million km²– 15-17 times the size of metropolitan France– Major challenge: transportation networks• New York & Sao Paulo highest rail traffic in world• Brazil: air traffic more than doubled from 2004

to 2010 but planes used less often than U.S. despite long distances

Both Countries populated by Pioneers

• Enabled rich natural resources to be exploited

• Energy– Brazil highly dependent on hydroelectric

power – Thanks to recent oil reserves discovered

offshore, Brazil is self-sufficient in petroleum unlike the U.S.

Risk Management less effective in Brazil than the U.S.

• Brazilians vulnerable to tropic storms– Flooding killed a thousand people near

Rio in 2011– Southeast of the US is particularly

exposed to cyclones, tornadoes and flooding by the Mississippi

– See Exercise on Natural Risks in the USA

B. Metropolises, mirrors of power• Main metropolises in Brazil & the U.S.

along the coastline– Historical Populating of both countries

from the coastline– Similar urbanization rate (Brazil: 87%

US: 82%)– Cities of the American Sun Belt

(Phoenix, Dallas, Las Vegas) and those of the Northwest of Brazil (Manaus, Fortaleza, Brasilia) have grown the most rapidly

Cities at the Heart of Power• Concentration of political functions

(Brasilia, Washington)• Financial functions (stock markets of

New York, Chicago & Sao Paulo)• Research Poles (Silicon Valley & San

Francisco)• Manufacturing • Tourism (Miami and Rio de Janeiro

tourist spots attracting global population)

10 Largest Megalopolises in the U.S. and Brazil

City Population (millions of inhabitants)

Sao Paulo 19.9

New York 19

Los Angeles 12.9

Rio de Janeiro 11.5

Chicago 9.6

Dallas-Fort Worth 6.4

Philadelphia 6

Houston 5.9

Miami 5.5

Washington, D.C. 5.5

Metropolization: merging American & Brazilian urban models

• Brazilian cities increasingly resemble American metropolis models

• Organized around a Central Business District– Concentrates the functions of power

• Phenomenon of urban sprawl

North American Urban Models

1. Concentric Zone ModelArgues that urban land use is best represented

by a series of concentric circles.• Recognizes five distinct zones:— The central business district/nonresidential— Zone in transition/poorest quality housing/immigrants/apartments— Zone of workingmen’s homes/second-generation immigrant settlement— Zone of “better residences”/middle class— Commuters’ zone/high-class residential

1. Concentric Zone ModelThe concentric pattern arises as land uses compete and are sorted according to ability to pay for land. As one moves toward the central city, land becomes scarcer but accessibility improves, the rent therefore increases, and land uses that cannot exact sufficient rent are sorted out. Similar activities are likely to be found at similar distances from the central business district (CBD)

2. Sector Model• This model assumes the land use is

conditioned by transportation routes radiating outward from a city center.

• Industrial, retailing, and residential districts extend out from the CBD like wedges.

• the best housing districts related to natural landscape, e.g. north from Chicago along Lake Michigan.

3. Multiple Nuclei Model This model assumes that urban areas have more than one

focal point influencing land use.• Land-use patterns are formed around several discrete nuclei that attract certain uses and repel others. These nuclei most often develop in response to the evolving transportation network. They form, for example, around major highway intersections and surrounding airports.• These multiple nuclei may have arisen in one of two ways:— They were once separate settlements but were absorbed by growth of the urban area.— They appeared as urban growth stimulated specialization and specialized centers outside the CBD, around which complementary uses then located.• Residential land use develops in response to the influence of the various nuclei.

Activity: Comparing North American urban models with those of Latin America

Appendix A & Appendix BHuman geography / Urban Geography

Similarities and differences between the Latin American model and the

concentric zone model• Concentric zones of housing of different

quality exist, radiating from the city center.• The housing in the zones, however, is

reversed from that which exists in North America. The highest-quality homes are in the innermost rings and the poorest quality are in the outermost.

• The market is centrally located, as opposed to North American cities where retailing is becoming increasingly suburbanized.

Similarities and differences between the Latin American model and the sector model

• In both models spines of land use radiate from the city center.

• The “Grand Boulevard” of elite shops is in the Latin American model only.

• North American–style suburbanization may occur - associated with the spine of development.

• An industrial spine may develop along a transportation route such as a railroad or highway in both models.

Similarities and differences between the Latin American

model and the multiple nuclei model

• Both may contain government housing projects.

• Both may contain industrial parks.• Disamenity zones exist in association

with less-desirable land only in the Latin American model.

2 most important changes in North American city

models• Inner cities that were once reserved

for business and a ring of the poorest-quality housing are being “revived.”

• Suburbs have begun to take on the roles more typically associated with the CBDs

Latin American City Models and Squatter Cities

Characteristics of Squatter Cities

•Housing materials are collected from available resources, e.g. corrugated tin•Little sanitation•No running water•No cooking facilities•Illegal hookup to electricity, if any•No political voice•Lack of social services

Spatial Distribution of Squatter cities

•On the periphery of the cities in LDCs around the world.•In Europe and Latin America the rich choose to live in the culturally-rich inner city, the opposite is sometimes true in North American cities

Squatter Cities• Video: Ted Talks: Stewart Brand on

Squatter Cities 3”• Video Ted Talks: Eduardo Paes -

Mayor of Rio de Janeiro - The Future of Cities, March 2012, 12”21