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The article aims to show striking aspects of the socio- spatial inequalities in the city of Sao Paulo: at one extreme, the favelas and at the other extreme, the gated condominiums. It shows the evolution of the population of greater São Paulo and that of the city itself and its pattern of spatial growth, namely the spread of the poor peripheral population. The population of the city is aging, although the spatialization of the age structure shows that all the population of the periphery is still younger. The association between income, education and place of living is clear" lower incomes and less education in the peripheral ring. The article also describes the formation of the city, its huge expansion in the 40s and its impoverishment at the turn of the century. The social segregation, previously confined to the periphery, is spreading to other parts of the city. The favelas are increasing, more gated condominiums arc being built even in poor neighborhoods. A remarkable characteristic of housig in São Paulo at the end of last century, is the growth of favelas and that of gated condominiums. The population of favelas represents more than 10% of the total population of the municipality and there were 2,500 new condominium units launched in 2000. The article solves Tha article belies some myths about favelas and condominiums. The favelas space is very similar to the urban space and its units are also in the housing market. Nevertheless, there are some peculiarities in the favela fabric. The proportion of formal employment in favelas is the same as that in the municipality. Favelas are rather different one from the other, be it in what concerns physical space or in the type of population. In what regards gated condominiums, they also house social groups of lower income Gated condominiums also house social groups of lower income, being found in the poor and polluted periphery. The absence of city authorities makes this urban space prone to misdemeanors. A similarity between the two extremes is the lack of democratic values, of respect for the law, of the right to come and go freely and the existence of public and equalitarian spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The central subject matter of this work is the fact that initiatives of local development are not always created on the basis of strategic planification; on the other hand, individual and isolated actions carried on by different social actors conform a "critical mass" of facts, events, and new actors which thus creates an institutional net that inserts itself in the local development, with origin in the strategic concentration of the complete local society. The case analysed is located in the irrigation area of Rio Dulce in the province of Santiago del Estero (Argentina), where during 1987 was initiated the Project of Development of Small Goat Producers, managed by the Foundation for Development in Justice and Peace (Fundapaz), with funds of the Interamerican Development Bank (DB). These actions determined the establishment of a milk goats production system based on the rationalization of peasant production systems, that resulted in the most important milk area of the whole country. The work concludes with the affirmation that the new agro-industrial complex presents remarkable differences in relation to most other complexes when they are thought from a social perspective. This implies the utilisation and optimisation of local resources, in an effort to generate its own market, therefore building a specific territorial environment to use it later as a strategic way for international connection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]