São Paulo - New Center

(Local Name: Centro Novo) Centro Novo (New Center)

In 1872 São Paulo had only 31,000 inhabitants - fewer than Cuiabá in Mato Grosso - and was practically confined within the boundaries of the original settlement. From 1880 onwards, however, the coffee plantations expanded considerably and the railway network was extended, while new immigrants flocked into the town. As a result São Paulo enjoyed an upsurge of prosperity and expanded at a vertiginous rate. The town now outgrew the limits set by the rivers, and new districts - the Centro Novo - developed round the historic core.