A tale of two cities: a compared geohistory of São Paulo and Lyon, 500,000 inhabitants in 1920
Un conte de deux villes : une géohistoire comparée de São Paulo et Lyon, 500 000 habitants en 1920
Um conto de duas cidades: geohistória comparada de São Paulo e Lyon, 500.000 habitantes em 1920
Résumé
The goal of this paper is a better understanding of the dynamics of urban change in São Paulo and Lyons when the two cities had the same population, in 1920 with 500,000 inhabitants, and in the previous decades. The former city was at that time in a trajectory of rapid growth, the latter more stable but with a strong industrial economy. We suppose and show here that the comparison, through its methodological exigencies, allows a new understanding of the phenomenon in play. From the works of two groups of scholars, Brazilian and French, the public transportation systems, the industrial development and the spatial growth are studied. This implied the gathering of researches conducted during fifteen years, and efficient methodology, particularly in digital humanities, notably the use of Geographical Information Systems, which led to data of a same nature configured in a same way.
