Brasília City Guide

Brasília is Brazil's purpose-built federal capital, a UNESCO World Heritage modernist city designed by Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer, whose airplane-shaped Pilot Plan (Plano Piloto) organises residential life into low-rise superquadras along the North and South Wings. Home to roughly 3 million people (around 5 million across the Federal District region), it has Brazil's highest per-capita income, anchored by federal employment that gives the city unusually stable, recession-resistant housing demand. For investors it is a defensive, income-led market: appreciation is moderate, but rental demand from civil servants, University of Brasília students and professionals is deep, and protected urbanism keeps prime supply tight in Asa Sul, Asa Norte, Sudoeste and the lakeside Lago Sul/Lago Norte.