What is more, studies tend to privilege central neighborhoods and a few types of grassroots urbanism (design-build public spaces, festivals). While such focus affords rich ethnographic depth, it does not allow for wider-ranging conclusions about the role of grassroots urbanism as both a trend and a tool for urban design in a city as complex and unwieldy as São Paulo. In the case of São Paulo, these differences have not been adequately addressed yet by the growing literature on the topic, partly because this literature tends to focus on single case studies or on certain areas of the city (Affonso 2010 Aderaldo 2017 Bortolozzo 2014 Friendly 2017 Maziviero and Almeida 2017 Mesquita 2008, among many others). These differences, which I will unfold below in connection to São Paulo and also to international theoretical debates on the field, can be understood as differences between tactical and insurgent urbanism, terms I will discuss in more detail later in this article. Some projects actively resist exclusionary processes such as gentrification, police repression, and discrimination, while others inadvertently collaborate with dynamics of socio-economic exclusion. But not all grassroots urbanism is created equal: some projects have a strong commitment to social and cultural inclusion and political critique, while others are more concerned with aesthetic and material improvements. Initiatives focus on issues such as art, culture, and education greenery and open spaces outdoor furniture water and environmental resources transportation and gender, race, and class justice.
![shallow space insurgency shallow space insurgency](https://small-games.info/s/f/s/shallow_space_7.jpg)
Starting around the mid-2000s, manifestations of grassroots urbanism-bottom-up, citizen-led actions to improve common urban spaces-have transformed São Paulo into a playfield for creative interventions, installations, and events that attempt to humanize the city in a variety of ways (Fig. As such, the study of these differences is meaningful not only for understanding the case of São Paulo, but also for expanding theoretical debates on grassroots urbanism at a global scale. These differences in goals and outcomes can be understood in terms of the opposition between tactical and insurgent urbanism.
![shallow space insurgency shallow space insurgency](https://cdn.mmohuts.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/ShallowSpaceFutureContent.jpg)
My research tries to understand crucial differences among initiatives-while some open up spaces for the emancipation of disenfranchised groups, others inadvertently engage in processes of gentrification and exclusion despite claims to representing a diverse public. I argue that these initiatives are more than the sum of their parts they influence social imaginaries, expectations, and urban policies beyond the scope of each case. Initiatives focus on art, culture, and education greenery and open spaces public equipment water and environmental resources and gender, race, and class justice. In the last decade, manifestations of grassroots urbanism have transformed São Paulo into a playfield for creative interventions.