Institute of Urban and Regional Development

This paper synthesizes and extends the results of urban land market studies carried out in three Brazilian cities -- Brasília, Curitiba and Recife. The purpose of the studies is to empirically assess the performance of urban land markets in different cities and to gauge the feasibility of applying the Land Market Assessment methodology in Brazil. The project involved the collaboration of several organizations: The World Bank, Instituto de Pesquisa Econômica Aplicada (IPEA), Secretaria de Estado de Desenvolvimento Urbano e Habitação (SEDUH), Instituto de Pesquisa e Planejamento Urbano de Curitiba (IPPUC), and Fundação de Desenvolvimento Municipal (FIDEM). The field research was carried out in 2003.

The paper is organized into seven sections. The first section provides a brief overview of urban land market research. The next section summarizes urbanization and housing markets in Brazil. The third section elaborates on the selection of the three cities and their profiles. The fourth section provides a general description of population, urban land development, and housing for the cities. Next, the paper provides a detailed spatial examination of these demographic, land use, and housing trends. The sixth section examines the effects of location, infrastructure, titling, and other factors on residential land prices. The final section outlines conclusions and policy implications.