Tatuapé

Tatuapé (pron. IPA2|tatwa'pɛ, guarani for "path of the armadillo") is a district in the borough of Mooca, in São Paulo, Brazil. It is divided by a railway and the eight lane Radial Leste highway cutting the district into two, northern and southern, parts.

Southern Tatuapé is the most developed side, and it was one of the first regions in Brazil where viticulture was established, at the end of the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. In the mid 20th century this southern part became heavily industrialized and polluted but the closure of clothing and ceramics factories in the 1980s left brownfield sites used for developing luxury apartment buildings. Gentrification has brought high "per capita" incomes which were around US$ 14.000,00/year in 2000. [Source: http://ww2.prefeitura.sp.gov.br//arquivos/secretarias/planejamento/plano_diretor/Plano_Municipal_Habitacao.pdf - the value in dollars was calculated according to the exchange in 2000, around R$ 2,00 for each dollar] and relatively low crime rates in comparison with the poorer surrounding districts. Residents of the district have a life expectancy of 80 years, the highest within the entire city, and the Human Development Index of 0,936 lies between the HDIs of Hong Kong and Germany [Atlas for the Work and Development of the Municipality of São Paulo, Fundação Seade, 2007] . Many of the inhabitants of the district have Italian, Spanish, Portuguese ancestry as well as a number with Japanese and Polish heritage. This southern part of Tatuapé is regarded as a home for the "new rich" paulistanos, an isolated area of affluence within a poor region. It has also three shopping malls, including the first in São Paulo directly connected to a subway station and Shopping Anália Franco, one of the most upmarket malls in the city. It also has two international standard hotels, because the district is placed between the city center and Guarulhos International airport.

The northern part of Tatuapé - Parque São Jorge - is an area of mixed light industry and middle class housing and was overtaken economically in the 1990s by the building boom in the southern part. Parque São Jorge is the home of Corinthians FC, one of the oldest football teams in Brazil and winners of the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship. Nearby, next to the River Tietê, Piqueri Park is a green oasis of 10 hectares and one of the few large parks in the city.

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