São Paulo approves creation of Bixiga Park in city centre
Mayor Ricardo Nunes signed a decree on 31 July 2026 establishing the Parque Municipal do Rio Bixiga. The 11.1 thousand‑square‑metre green space will be located at the junction of Jaceguai, Abolição and Santo Amaro streets in the Bela Vista neighbourhood. The municipality bought the site from Grupo Silvio Santos in 2024 for roughly R$64‑65 million, using funds from an agreement with the municipal executive, the university Uninove and the São Paulo Public Prosecutor’s Office.
The design competition was won by Democratic Architects, led by architect Antonio Roberto Zanolla, which was commissioned to prepare the executive project. Work on this phase began in early August 2026 and is scheduled to finish in ten months, by May 2027. Full construction of the park is planned for completion by the end of 2028. The plan features a “sponge forest”, renaturalisation of the Bixiga stream, a cultural arena and a division of the site into an upper zone for social and sport programmes and a lower agro‑forestry zone. A naming debate continues between left‑wing councillors who want to honour playwright Zé Celso Martinez Corrêa and right‑wing councillors who propose naming the park after the founder of SBT, Silvio Santos.
Entities: Antonio Roberto Zanolla · Democratic Architects · Eduardo Cavaliere · Grupo Silvio Santos · Hingo Hammes · Parque Municipal do Rio Bixiga · Petrópolis · Ricardo Nunes · Rio de Janeiro · SUS
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 5 SOURCES] Funding for the purchase came from an agreement involving the municipal executive, Uninove university and the São Paulo Public Prosecutor’s Office.
- [● 5 SOURCES] Democratic Architects, led by architect Antonio Roberto Zanolla, won the design competition and was hired to prepare the executive project.
- [● 5 SOURCES] Execution of the executive project began in early August 2026 with a ten‑month schedule, targeting completion by May 2027.
- [● 5 SOURCES] Full park construction is planned to be finished by the end of 2028.
- [● 5 SOURCES] Mayor Ricardo Nunes signed a decree on 31 July 2026 establishing the Parque Municipal do Rio Bixiga. (61a4f96c-f148-4ac0-82d1-fce177bac394, 3f9804a2-8f90-4d85-8b50-490fdf3273e1, 8193a346-027a-4fdd-939b-0a3ba7a96b7a, e5c386)
- [● 5 SOURCES] The park will cover 11.1 thousand square metres in the Bela Vista neighbourhood of São Paulo.
- [● 5 SOURCES] The municipality purchased the land from Grupo Silvio Santos for approximately R$64‑65 million in 2024.
- [● 5 SOURCES] The park design includes a sponge forest, renaturalisation of the Bixiga stream, a cultural arena and separate upper (social/sport) and lower (agro‑forestry) zones.