Current Time in Barueri, Brazil

Barueri lies about twenty-five kilometres west of central São Paulo, on the banks of the Tietê river in the western arc of Brazil's largest metropolitan area. Rolling hills, remnants of Atlantic forest and a dense network of motorways surround it, and although it is firmly part of Greater São Paulo it has developed an identity of its own. The climate is humid subtropical, with warm wet summers and mild, drier winters.

Around three hundred thousand people live in the municipality, but its daytime population is far larger. Barueri has one of the highest municipal budgets and one of the strongest economies of any medium-sized city in Brazil, and hundreds of thousands of commuters travel in each morning to work in its offices, warehouses and factories. Banks, insurers, technology firms, pharmaceutical companies and logistics operators all have major bases here.

The origins of the settlement go back to 1560, when a Jesuit mission village was founded on the Tietê to bring together indigenous inhabitants of the region. The name comes from the Tupi language and is usually connected with the flowers or the river of the area. For centuries it remained a quiet riverside parish on the road to the interior; it became an independent municipality only in 1949, and its transformation came with the arrival of industry and the great expansion of São Paulo after the 1970s.

Barueri is best known internationally for Alphaville, a planned district of gated residential neighbourhoods and glass office towers begun in the 1970s and shared with the neighbouring municipality of Santana de Parnaíba. Alphaville became the model for the secure, car-oriented suburb in Brazil and remains one of the country's most important business addresses, with landscaped avenues, corporate campuses, hotels and large shopping centres.

Beyond the office districts the city offers the Parque Ecológico do Tietê areas along the river, the Parque Municipal Dom José with its lake and walking paths, and a lively calendar of sport and entertainment. The José Corrêa arena is one of the most respected basketball venues in Brazil, and the Arena Barueri is a modern football stadium that has also hosted concerts and major athletics events. Municipal theatres, a planetarium and a well-funded network of libraries and cultural centres serve residents.

Transport is a strength. The Barueri and Jardim Belval stations sit on Line 8 of the CPTM suburban railway, giving a direct ride to the Palmeiras-Barra Funda interchange in São Paulo, while the Castello Branco motorway and the Rodoanel ring road carry heavy traffic towards the port of Santos and the interior of the state.

Several private universities and technical schools have campuses in the city, drawn by its business environment, and the local workforce is unusually well educated by regional standards.

Barueri is important as a model of how Brazilian metropolitan growth has spread outwards, combining corporate power, planned suburbs and a broad range of public services in a single fast-growing city.