ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with the analysis of the public housing agencies in Greater Sao Paulo. State and municipal housing agencies' lack of financial resources, for revenue, has been systematically denied. In the opinion of Paulo Maluf administration it was injust that in those cities that do not generate industrial sale taxes, the state should invest resources to create urban infrastructure, that is, construct popular housing and provide public services for the population. The distributional process of housing in Companhia de Habitacao, evelopment Corporation of Sao Paulo and INOCOOP is an example of a situation where the state apparatus monopolizes economic and social power in the society and retains full discretion over policy initiatives. Strengthening the powers of the centre over the states was meant to keep the economic growth and its implications, under federal control, and to maintain in check the growing process of politicization.
