São Paulo and cutting into the urban area of São José dos Campos. Altogether, these factors allowed the municipality to make strides towards fulfilling its scientific and technological potential. Government São José dos Campos has a "strong mayoral" system in which the mayor is vested with extensive executive powers, as it is in all municipalities in Brazil. The mayor is elected to a four-year term by universal voting. The City Council is elected every four years with the mayor. The state administrative region of São José dos Campos The State of São Paulo is divided politically and administratively into 15 regions. São José dos Campos is the seat and the name of the 3rd Administrative Region, which includes the North Coast of São Paulo state and the Paraíba Valley. The region comprises 39 municipalities with sharp contrasts. São José dos Campos is a densely populated city, with approximately 2,100 inhabitants/square kilometers in urban area, whereas the quiet municipality of São José do Barreiro has only seven inhabitants/square kilometer. There are both highly industrialized cities and the others in the region are focused on agriculture and tourism. São José dos Campos is well known as the Capital do Vale which means that São José dos Campos is the most important city of the Paraíba Valley. It is one of the state's most dynamic areas, the fourth one in terms of population density, and covers 11.3% of the state's territory. The main municipalities are São José dos Campos, Taubaté, Jacareí, Guaratingueta, Caraguatatuba, Campos do Jordão, São Sebastião, Lorena, Pindamonhangaba, Ubatuba and Caçapava. Population of the region: 2,243,687 (est. 2018/IBGE) Population Density: 288.56 inhabitants per square kilometer List of mayors João Cursino (1908/1910, 1913/1916, 1919/1930) Rui Dória (1931) Francisco José Longo (1938/1941) Elmano Ferreira Veloso (1949/1950, 1953/1956, 1958/1961, 1966/1970) Jorge Zarur (1947 and 1950) José Marcondes Pereira (1962/1966) Sérgio Sobral de Oliveira (1970/1975) Ednardo José de Paula Santos (1975/1978) Joaquim Vicente Ferreira Bevilacqua (1978/1982, 1989/1990) Hélio Augusto (1986) Ângela Guadagnin (1993/1996) Emanuel Fernandes (1997/2000, 2001/2004) Eduardo Cury (2005/2008, 2009/2012) Carlinhos Almeida (2013/2016) Felicio Ramuth (2017/-) Shopping areas All the major hypermarkets, supermarket chains and discount and department stores are in the city. The largest malls are: CenterVale Shopping; Shopping Colinas; Vale Sul Shopping; Shopping Calçadão; Shopping Centro; Shopping Esplanada; Shopping Jardim Oriente; Shopping Faro Besides those malls, the most important commercial centers include: The Old Downtown area including: Rua Sete de Setembro –