Rio de Janeiro

How visiting the favelas changes perceptions

A survey completed in five North American downtowns reveals a huge disparity regarding perceptions of Rio de Janeiro's favelas. Catalytic Communities' first-ever Favela Perceptions Survey interviewed 300 North Americans next to mass transit stops in downtown Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and Montreal in March 2012. Another 325 people were interviewed in Rio de Janeiro. All 300 North American respondents had heard of favelas prior to completing the survey. Of those who had never been to these communities, 79 percent viewed them unfavorably, whereas 72 percent of respondents who had visited favelas viewed them favorably. Learn more.

Submitted by Catalytic Communities — Thu, 05/31/2012 - 01:00

Mudando o preconceito das favelas cariocas

O Complexo da Maré é conhecido por ser uma das maiores favelas do Rio; esta composta por 16 comunidades onde moram mais de 130,000 pessoas. O bairro está localizado na zona norte da cidade, entre a Avenida Brasil e as Linhas Amarela e Vermelha. A Maré conta com poucos equipamentos sociais como escolas e postos de saúde, mas conta com um batalhão de Polícia Militar. Mais.

Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Wed, 05/30/2012 - 01:00

Community participation in urban upgrading programs in Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro has 6 million inhabitants, of whom an estimated 20 percent live in informal settlements. The number of favelas is still debated, as there are several ways of defining what constitutes a favela, but estimates range from 500 to 1000. Whatever the number, what Rio's favelas have in common is that the great majority of them still lack basic urban services. These settlements also lack or have very poor social service provision, especially in the areas of health, education, and social assistance. The Morar Carioca program — understood by many to be the social legacy of the Olympic Games to be hosted in the city in 2016 — aims to urbanize more than 500 slums and benefit more than 320,000 households. Learn more.

Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Thu, 05/24/2012 - 01:00

Landslide prevention, environmental risk management and reforestation in Rio

Rio's dramatic topography and rapid urbanization process have made the city more prone to certain types of environmental hazards, including landslides, erosion, and deforestation. When the Portuguese arrived in the city's Guanabara Bay in 1501, the mountains were covered with thick Atlantic rainforest. In the ensuing years, as this protective covering has been stripped away to make room for settlements, the thin soils have become susceptible to landslides and the rock layer has been left exposed to weathering, making it more prone to erosion. In addition, the lack of drainage in many of the city's poorest neighborhoods has contributed to excessive flooding during the summer rainy season. Learn more.

Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Fri, 05/18/2012 - 01:00

Community mapping: innovations and challenges in Rio

Community mapping is a process that involves communities in the production of diverse local information, knowledge, and resources. In neighborhoods around the globe, it has led to greater inclusion and empowerment of communities in their own development process, as local participants take part in planning, enumeration, and information gathering and processing exercises that were conducted previously only by experts. As the introduction of new technologies — including digital cameras, mobile phones, global positioning systems (GPS), and geographic information systems (GIS) — makes community mapping more sophisticated, it is also being used to identify risk areas or damaged urban infrastructure, with communities mobilizing to take appropriate action based on the data. Learn more.

Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Thu, 05/10/2012 - 01:00

Can the World Cup and Olympic Games in Rio contribute to lasting progress against poverty?

Rio de Janeiro is one of the host cities for the World Cup to be held in Brazil in 2014 and is the host city for the Summer Olympic Games of 2016. In the meantime, Rio has the opportunity to boost its international image, leveraging its already world-renowned sites and the warmth of its residents. But beyond this temporary PR buzz, can such events lead to something more? Can these two major sports events contribute to long-term improvements to the life of Rio de Janeiro, including poverty alleviation and the promotion of opportunities for the city's more disadvantaged populations? Learn more.

Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Wed, 02/22/2012 - 00:00

Legado da Copa do Mundo e dos Olímpicos na redução da pobreza no Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro é uma das cidades sede da Copa do Mundo de Futebol 2014 e dos Jogos Olímpicos 2016, o que significa uma grande oportunidade de se posicionar ainda melhor na esfera internacional, além de seus já conhecidos atributos naturais e da qualidade humana de seus moradores. Este debate apresenta a necessidade de um aproveitamento maior da Copa e dos Olímpicos para contribuir na melhoria da qualidade de vida da cidade no longo prazo, principalmente focando-se na redução da pobreza e na promoção de maiores oportunidades para a população carente. Learn more.

Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Wed, 02/22/2012 - 00:00

The favela elevators of Rio de Janeiro

The 10,000 inhabitants of the Cantagalo and Pavão / Pavãozinho informal settlements, situated in the southern part of Rio de Janeiro, have recently begun to appreciate what it means to be connected to the formal city. Since mid-2010, they can access two elevators that connect their communities — located on two facing sides of one of Rio's many hills — with the General Osorio metro station in Ipanema. The elevators also allow easy walking access to the commercial areas of Copacabana and Ipanema, Rio's most important touristic destinations, where many of the informal residents go for work. Before the opening of the elevators, these communities could only be reached by a steep stairway of more than 700 steps, which locals had to climb and descend several times a day. Learn more.

Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Tue, 02/21/2012 - 00:00

Rio de Janeiro: Elevadores nas favelas

Os 10,000 moradores das favelas Cantagalo e Pavão / Pavãozinho, localizadas nos morros da Zona Sul do Rio, têm iniciado recentemente a se sentir parte da cidade formal: desde junho 2010 eles tem aceso a dois elevadores que conectam suas comunidades com a estação do metrô General Osório em Ipanema. Os elevadores também facilitam o percurso da população das favelas nas áreas comerciais de Copacabana e Ipanema, umas das áreas turísticas mais importantes da cidade, onde muitas destas pessoas trabalham. Antes da construção dos elevadores, estas comunidades só podiam ser acessadas por escadas muito longas com mais de 700 degraus. Além de longas, o local estava em situação de completa degradação, com lixão a céu aberto, e total desordem urbana. Learn more.

Submitted by Catalina Gomez — Tue, 02/21/2012 - 00:00

Pages