write:Astheneighborhoodgrowsandthepopulationincreases streetsarepaved;water electricity andsewagearrive;andlocalcommerceexpands. Withtime fac¸adesareimproved housesareenlarged and espec

andthecharacteristicsofindividualhouses.Asaresultofthispattern
peripheralurbanizationproducesquiteheterogeneouslandscapes.Thetransformationsaresimultaneouslyexpressedintheconditionsoftheurbanspaceandthehouses.Astheneighborhoodgrowsandthepopulationincreases
streetsarepaved;water
electricity
andsewagearrive;andlocalcommerceexpands.Withtime
fac¸adesareimproved
housesareenlarged
and
especially
spacesareconstantlyredecorated.Despiteindisputableprecariousnessandpersistingpoverty
theprocessesoftransformationofperipheralareasofferamodelofsocialmobility
astheybecomethematerialembodimentsofnotionsofprogress.6Asperipheriesimprove
however
theymaybecomeinaccessibletothepoorestresidents.Thus
peripheralurbanizationisaprocessthatisalwaysbeingdisplaced
reproducedsomewhereelsewherelandischeaperbecauseitismoreprecariousordifficulttoaccess.Thispresentsmethodologicalchallengesforthestudyofperipheralurbanization.Tocaptureitstemporality
ithastobestudiedovertime.Tocaptureitscontinuousreproduction
ithastobestudiedacrossspace.ThisisespeciallyclearinAhonsi’s(2002)analysisofLagosDuhau’s(2014)ofMexicoCity
andHolston’s(2008)andmyown(Caldeira
2000)ofSa˜oPaulo.Studieslookingatoneplacemissthelateralreproductionofperipheries
gettingonlythepictureofimprovement
iffocusingonanolderarea
orprecariousness
iffocusingonanewerone.Peripherieshavetobestudiedovertimeandacrossspace.Itisonlybydoingthisthatonecancapturethesimultaneousprocessesofimprovementandthereproductionofinequalityandprecariousness.Figure1.TheautoconstructionofJardimdasCame´lias
Sa˜oPaulo.Picturestakenfromthesameterraceovera35yearperiod.Photosbytheauthor.6EnvironmentandPlanningD:SocietyandSpace35(1)