01 · Introduction
Three acronyms, one skeleton
PIU, AIU and OUC. Three acronyms, three distinct urban planning instruments, and together they form the skeleton of virtually every large-scale urban transformation in contemporary Brazil.
Understanding the order in which they appear and the role of each agent is what separates the professional who merely designs from the one who structures developments.
02 · Definitions
What each acronym means
PIU
Urban Intervention Project
A São Paulo municipal instrument, established by art. 134 of Municipal Law 16.050/2014, the Strategic Master Plan, and regulated by Decree 56.901/2016. It is the technical study that delimits the perimeter, defines differentiated urban planning parameters, counterpart contributions and financing strategies. It works as a "draft law" rendered in design form.
AIU
Area of Urban Intervention
A classification provided for in municipal master plans. It defines a territorial unit where the municipality intends to induce transformation. Without an AIU, the PIU has no local legal basis to operate with distinct parameters.
OUC
Consorted Urban Operation
A financial-urbanistic instrument. It allows the public authority to sell additional building rights (CEPACs in some cases) to fund infrastructure works in the area. It is the "how to pay for" element of the transformation.
03 · Sequence
The order matters: AIU → PIU → OUC
The AIU authorizes. The PIU designs. The OUC finances.
Without an AIU there is nowhere to apply the PIU. Without a PIU there is no technical project for the OUC to sustain. And without an OUC, the transformation becomes hostage to the linear public budget, which, in practice, means it does not happen.
04 · Roles
Who does what at each stage
| Stage | Public authority | Market | Architect/firm |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIU | Defines the perimeter in the master plan | Maps opportunities | Supports the territorial diagnosis |
| PIU | Approves and regulates | Presses for viable parameters | Leads the technical design |
| OUC | Issues CEPACs / charge for additional building rights | Acquires building rights and develops | Models urban feasibility |
AIU
- Public authority
- Defines the perimeter in the master plan
- Market
- Maps opportunities
- Architect/firm
- Supports the territorial diagnosis
PIU
- Public authority
- Approves and regulates
- Market
- Presses for viable parameters
- Architect/firm
- Leads the technical design
OUC
- Public authority
- Issues CEPACs / charge for additional building rights
- Market
- Acquires building rights and develops
- Architect/firm
- Models urban feasibility
05 · Positioning
Why Arsenic operates on all three fronts
Structuring developments today requires circulating between city hall, investor and technical design. Delivering a floor plan is not enough: one must understand how the urban planning instrument functions, how it generates revenue and how it is approved.
That is why Arsenic positions itself as a link: the same team that drafts the PIU follows the legislative process in the municipal council and models the feasibility book of the OUC.
06 · Repertoire
Reference cases (Brazil)
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01
OUC Faria Lima (SP)
The Brazilian prototype. Financed part of the avenue's expansion through CEPACs.
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02
OUC Água Branca (SP)
Required reading to understand CEPAC plus social counterpart.
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03
PIU Setor Central (SP)
A recent case of PIU use without a consorted OUC.
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04
PIUs in São Paulo (Faria Lima, Águas Espraiadas, Bairros do Tamanduateí)
A national laboratory.
07 · For the investor
What changes for the investor
Before the AIU
The lot follows the parameters of the master plan. Limited.
With AIU plus PIU
Parameters can be expanded (FAR, height limit, uses), with a counterpart contribution.
With an active OUC
Additional rights are sold by the municipality. The investor buys CEPAC or pays the charge for additional building rights.
08 · Conclusion
It is not bureaucracy, it is structure
PIU, AIU and OUC are not bureaucracy: they are the way Brazil reconfigured the relationship between city, capital and project.
Whoever masters the three instruments masters where and how the next wave of developments will take place.
