This master s thesis intends to promote a debate about the importance of social participation in formulating urban policies, by promoting inclusive and effective actions, because the civil society participation changes paradigmatically the logical of collective way of living. In February 1999 s, the economist Joseph Stiglitz have already spoken about the social participation role: the central argument of this paper has been that open, transparent, and participatory processes are important ingredients in the development transformation - important both for sustainable economic development and for social development that should be viewed as an end in itself and as a means to more rapid economic growth (STIGLITZ, 2002, p. 175). By the end of the 1990 s, it was already possible to realize the necessity of defining public policies directed to the poverty alleviation, such as employment, housing, or education politics that needed to be implemented. In that way, it was comprehensive that the improvement of life quality should be the main goal to a healthier environment. In the Brazilian context, according to Maricato (2016), the Brazilian society has urbanized mostly in the twentieth century, starting with only 10 per cent of the population living in the cities and finishing with impressive 91 per cent living in urban areas. The perception of lack of urban planning in the development of most of the Brazilian cities can be emphasized with the lack of participatory processes and the social participation in urban management. The problems related to the demographic growth in Brazilian cities and its consequences are defined by the sustainability in the urban environment, or the Urban Sustainability. This term was determined by Henri Acselrad (1999) and explained as the capacity of urban policies to be adapted to service offers and social assistance, attending to numerous demands of the population basic rights and others investments.