ABC Region, Industrial area in Greater São Paulo, Brazil
The ABC Region is an industrial zone comprising seven cities south of the São Paulo metropolis, stretching across several dozen kilometers. Factory complexes, warehouses and commercial zones shape much of the landscape, though residential neighborhoods, parks and older city centers with shops and restaurants appear in between.
In the 1950s, this area transformed from former farmland into a center of automobile production, drawing workers from across the country. Trade unions organized inside the factories, and several major strikes in the 1970s and 1980s shaped the Brazilian labor movement in decisive ways.
The area takes its name from the initials of three cities: Santo André, São Bernardo and São Caetano. In the city centers, old workers' housing stands next to modern shopping malls, and on weekends street markets with regional products and crafts draw families from across the metropolitan area.
Trains and buses run regularly between the individual cities and connect the area to downtown São Paulo. Highways pass through the entire zone, so visitors can focus on different neighborhoods depending on their destination.
Six of the seven cities border the Billings Reservoir, which serves as an important drinking water reserve for the metropolitan area. São Caetano do Sul lies farther north and draws its water from a different system, making it the only city in the group without direct access to this large body of water.
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