Deindustrialization and repurposing: King’s Cross and Água Branca Urban Operation

Abstract The production restructuring of Western metropolises in the last decades of the 20th century required national and local governments to debate and develop new urban planning instruments aimed at the physical and functional reconversion of spaces previously occupied by industrial activities. This article examines the cases of the King's Cross urban project in London and the Água Branca Urban Operation in São Paulo, both based on partnerships between the public sector and private initiative, particularly through the negotiation of urban assets. We found that in the international case, although elements of exclusion were observed, the design process aimed at integrated solutions for socio-environmental requalification. In the São Paulo case, the implementation process was characterized by the regulatory modeling of the space to the detriment of urban design.