INNOVATION IN PUBLIC POLICIES: ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION AS A TOOL OF TECHNOLOGICAL MODERNIZATION - THE CASE OF THE PORTO ALEGRE INFOVIA

Abstract

It can be stated with no mistaking that the lack of resources is a complaint shared by all governments, and it is just a step from that to the justification of impotence and inaction face to society's demands, what often results in an effective public policies vaccum. Therefore, the study and disclosure of successful experiences in the use of alternative tools to the formulation and implementation of public policies is justified, as in the case of the power of regulation and reglamentation of the public utilities provided by the private sector by means of state concession. This paper, written as a descriptive, analytical, and critical case study based on secondary data complemented by interviews, presents the experience of the Porto Alegre City Hall which, from an enlarged understanding of environmental legislation, has framed a new regulatory mark to the use of urban soil and subsoil, managing, thus, to conceive and project the growth and development of the city.