Parque Villa-Lobos

This large riverside park in the west of São Paulo was created in the 1990s on reclaimed land beside the Pinheiros River and named for the composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. It offers wide lawns, cycle and running tracks, sports courts and playgrounds, drawing crowds of joggers and families at weekends. Rows of palms and native trees shade the paths, and open-air concerts and cultural events are held on its grounds. As one of the city's newer green spaces, it provides a spacious outdoor counterpoint to the dense surrounding neighbourhoods.