Diadema

Diadema occupies 30.7 km² in the Greater ABC Region, to the southeast of the city of São Paulo, with 393,237 inhabitants according to the 2022 census and a population density of 12,796 inhabitants per km², one of the highest in Brazil. It is the smallest municipality by area in the ABC Paulista, but its urban compactness conceals a remarkable social transformation and a growing commitment to sport as a tool for inclusion.

Emancipated from São Bernardo do Campo in 1959 by a margin of just 36 votes in a referendum, Diadema grew as an industrial municipality within the chemical, pharmaceutical and metallurgical corridor of the ABC. During the 1990s and 2000s, the city faced extreme violence rates that led it to implement a set of integrated public policies that reduced homicides by 68% over eight years, a transformation recognised by the United Nations.

From 2021 onwards, the Municipal Secretariat of Sports multiplied its competitive teams from 3 to 26, covering disciplines from athletics and artistic gymnastics to judo, cycling and handball. The municipal sports budget doubled from 9 to 18 million reais between 2021 and 2024, directly or indirectly benefiting more than 40,000 residents. The Ecological Park, alongside the Billings Reservoir, offers a walking track, sports courts and free capoeira and tai chi classes. The Diadema Run, an inaugural race held in April 2024, brought together 2,000 participants, and the city is home to the largest running training group in the ABC.

Diadema was named South American City of Sport 2024 by ACES Europe, becoming the second city in the ABC Paulista to receive this distinction, after Santo André in 2022. Within the ACES Activa platform, it registers 17 events with an estimated participation that reflects its commitment to democratising access to sport in urban peripheries.