ontrasts with the high Human Development Index of Campinas, which is about the same level as Chile, Hungary, Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia. The explanation for this apparent contradiction is that side by side, even in the same city section, one can find walled condominiums with a yearly average per capita income of US$ 60,000 to US$ 100,000 and spreading "favelas" (slum cities) with incomes of less than US$ 800 p.a. The classes A and B help move the local economy, and provide a strong tax base for the municipality.
Until the late 1970s, Campinas was proud to have no favelas, but the increasing industrialization and wealth attracted hordes of destitute agrarian workers and urban dwellers with few job qualifications from all parts of the country. Land invasions were frequent and the municipal powers were unable or unwilling to suppress them, allowing illegal occupation of land in key sectors of the city (in Brazil, state and counties are forbidden by the Federal Constitution to restrict or even measure the free movement of citizens)
