SUMMARY
Urban sprawl is a natural process of the cities‘ growth as consequence population growth. The population need a food, water and housing for survival and for its species to continue populating the land. The literature existing about urban sprawl considers a population growth causes impacts on people’s quality of life because they consume more food, water, electricity, transport for their locomotion, and other products and services. The fact is the urban sprawl and population growth are directly linked and can not be separated in any study on the subject. Sprawl is the process in which the spread of development across the landscape far outpaces population growth. This is article show the process Urban sprawl and consequences of poorly managed expansion the city São Paulo – Brazil. The phenomenon of sprawl there are several common characteristics pervading time in history from development the city of São Paulo. The phenomenon of sprawl the city of São Paulo is a common the any big city, the result of a complex set of interrelated socioeconomic and cultural forces. For example, land value is often considered the main driver of socioeconomic development patterns. However, at any time in the current or ancient history, land value is lower on the periphery and very expensive in urban centers. Other factors contribute to the occupation of land on the outskirts of large cities: existence of water and the quality of land for agriculture, the cost of keeping the dwelling lower when compared to the cost of the city center, the size of the land is larger at the beginning of the occupation.