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Introduction

With over 6 million inhabitants, Rio de Janeiro is perhaps one of the most globally recognised cities in Brazil offering beaches, year round sunshine and a strong cultural identity combined with possessing the second largest metropolitan region in the country in terms of GDP, with a range of real estate and business opportunities.

Whilst the announcement of the 2016 Olympic Games (which will be the first ever in the whole of Latin America) bought further confidence to business leaders, investors and residents – concerns were highlighted with regards to the levels of poverty which continue to remain juxtaposed and often omitted from the elegant and picture perfect images of the city.

We were recently invited to a press conference on a new programme to be implemented from now until 2020 entitled ‘Morar Carioca’ (broadly translated in English to mean ‘to live as a resident of Rio de Janeiro’) which will seek to implement the radical urbanisation of the city’s favelas (urban slum communities). As one of the most influential and aspirational regions of the country, it is widely predicted that the ripple effect of the reforms will spread throughout Brazil and indeed other world cities with similar issues. This extended blog post serves to explain the details of the project, starting with an interview with Sonia Lopes, coordinator and spokeswoman.

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Interview with Coordinator and Spokeswoman for the ‘Morar Carioca’ Project

Please see a short outline of a discussion we had with Sonia Lopes at the Launch of the Morar Carioca programme in October 2010. As coordinator and spokeswoman, Sonia answered some questions on the background of the project; social issues affecting Rio de Janeiro; the changing face of the property market; challenges and risk management:

Can you outline what the ‘Morar Carioca’ project is and why it was created?

The project essentially aims to urbanise all of the favela communities that exist in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s second largest metropolitan region. The city’s growing international reputation is often tarred with reports of the social issues which are widely believed to stem from the extreme poverty divides that exist here. Morar Carioca; along with several other projects within the city and nationally; will work to establish a well-planned pathway to be able to offer every resident of Rio de Janeiro a standard of living to be expected from a modern and developed international city.

Readers would be aware of the issue of crime and violence in the city (as well as within other major metropolitan areas of the country) – do you really think that programmes such as this will reduce the problems?

Statistics have actually shown that they have already reduced in the city but, yes, we still see this as a major issue to be dealt with – particularly as the World Cup and Olympic Games approach. At the same time, speaking and working with residents who live in favelas – the large majority are hard working families who want to offer a bright future for their children. Crime in Rio often stems from the poverty and the fact that rich and poor communities live so closely to each other. Improving living conditions through programmes such as Morar Carioca – as well as others such as ‘Bolsa Família’ and ‘Minha Casa, Minha Vida’ – is visibly decreasing the cities ‘D’ and ‘E’ [lower] classes and is highly expected to continue to do so.

How do you think the Rio de Janeiro property market will be affected?

The programme marks a historic step for the future of Rio de Janeiro and looks certain to change the face of the property market for the better. There are a number of regions of the city which many property buyers do not go near – mainly because of their proximity to an area which is degraded. It is our belief that the ‘Morar Carioca’ will help keep the market for real estate strong whilst also creating new areas of opportunity. Furthermore, whilst Rio de Janeiro has taken a successful lead in the implementation of the Minha Casa, Minha Vida programme, the Morar Carioca will serve to complement the growth of much needed social housing in the city as well as act as a benchmark for other regions of the country with similar issues.

A project like this is without a doubt a major challenge, particularly with regards to the clear separation that exists between the heads of favela communities and the Rio de Janeiro city government – how will these be managed?

We are well aware of the difficulties and challenges ahead of us and implementing this programme will certainly not be an easy task – we have therefore been spending a considerable amount of time within the favelas to gain a detailed understanding of the true needs as well as building long term relationships with the well-established social projects operating in the communities. Favela leaders themselves have, on a general level, also shown increased willingness to cooperate and develop their neighbourhoods – the groups of architectural and building professionals working in the communities have commented on an overall welcoming of the ‘Morar Carioca’ project which we view as a very encouraging sign moving forward.

Are there any other challenges?

The prominent one is improving the existing infrastructure of the favelas. Teams of professionals have been undertaking detailed studies on the complicated existing systems that are in place – mainly with regards to water supply, gas, electricity and waste disposal – many of which have been installed badly and are in need of a significant overhaul.

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Message from the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes

“Rio de Janeiro is living a historically rich moment in terms of opportunities and the improving quality of life for all its citizens. As the city’s children can look forward to an increasingly bright future, we – as the public authority of the city – are representatives of the entire civil society of Rio and commit ourselves fully to serve it. Within a short time, the city will be the base of a number of international events that will mark its future history, namely: in 2011, the Global Military Games; in 2012, the Rio + 20 United Nations Conference on sustainable development; in 2014, the World Cup and in 2016, the Olympic Games. With these scenarios, we want the city to continuing moving up the reference scale of the Human Development Index (HDI) in terms of quality of life and social inclusion. The opportunity is now, and I believe it is something that we may not have again.

For this reason, more than ever, we need to work to amplify and consolidate partnerships between the federal government, the state and municipal authorities in order to effectively manage the city. Furthermore, we need to learn from other cities that have held such big events including those who have held Olympic Games in recent years. Yet, with this strategy it may be easy for us to forget the question of social inclusion and urban interaction of the favelas in our city. By 2020, therefore, we pledge that Rio will be urbanised, creating a city for all.

In this respect, we have signed the convention with the Institute of Architects of Brazil, initiating what will permit us to expand on our planned urbanisation projects whilst respecting our city’s culture and history. These actions will implemented with the participation of the municipal councils with the theme of social inclusion being paramount – which will enable us to be an example to the world.”

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A Message from the Secretary of Housing, Pierre Batista

“The Cidade Maravilhosa [Marvelous City] now has the opportunity to remove itself from the reputation of disorganisation and social exclusion that still remains and to become more enchanting to the eyes of visitors from throughout the world as well as offering better quality of life for all its citizens.

The World Cup and Olympic Games will be two events that will permit Rio de Janeiro to confront its principle and recurring challenges. With careful planning and investments in the areas of housing, transport, health, education, culture, leisure and professional qualification our city will reach the peak of these realisations whilst at the same time becoming a national reference in terms of sustainability and dignified standards of living for all its habitants.

As the municipal secretary of housing, I am well aware of the fact that the preparations of the Olympic Games in 2016 will need to incorporate social inclusion. For this, we will need to formulate and subsequently implement projects with great care in neglected areas of the city – such as through the means of PROAP (Estudos e Projectos de Arquitectura Paisagista, Studies and Projects of Landscape Architecture) – developed in partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank.

The programme will incorporate new strategic components that will involve building strong relationships with the communities of the city in need – with the overall benefit of fortifying its growth. The other major change will be the improved living conditions: the proposal of which will incorporate infrastructure, a range complementary services, equipment as well as health and safety installations.

By creating the programme from a universal perspective, absolutely all of the favelas of Rio de Janeiro will benefit. All of it will be done with a permanent dialogue with the communities, in line with the established principles of city administration: democratic management and participative construction.

In summary, Morar Carioca has the objective of guaranteeing the access to dignified living and urban infrastructure for lower income earners – which is a basic social right. The focus as well will be social inclusion and respect to the environment – all of this work will be part of an amplified process of urban planning, combined with the growth of the citizenship of the residents of the Rio de Janeiro.”

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Seeking Solutions to the Favela Problem of Rio de Janeiro

According to the proposers of the programme, in the search of the best solutions that face the city, the first was the need to understand why the 625 favela communities have not integrated themselves into the overall landscape of the city. The local government have therefore undertaken detailed analysis of each and every favela’s existence within the city and placed them within two broad groups:

1. Isolated: forming the majority at 481, these favelas are limited in terms of access to the rest of the city with a lack of connection and fixed essential facilities;
2. Complexes: a total of 144, formed out of groups of favelas that, due to their proximity to each other, form one entire unit. Such complexes are often difficult for residents to move around as well as lacking adequate roads, energy sources and other essential services. Complexes can also be grouped on hills which causes issues within itself, particularly in times of bad weather.

Beyond these measurements, the level of existing urbanisation has also been considered – in terms of looking at the works that may have already been undertaken by the public sector as well as privately by residents or those with business interests related to the communities. It has subsequently been demonstrated that 54 of the 625 units have an above standard level of urbanisation.

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‘Morar Carioca’ Project Outline & Financial Projections

The project is set to benefit over 240,000 families by 2020 and the local government has confirmed its partnership with the Brazilian Institute of Architects (Instituto de Arquitetos do Brasil, IAB-RJ) who will be responsible for the registration of companies involved with the projects; logistical management / coordination; working with teams of engineers to effectively realise the projects and, in conjunction with the Municipal Secretary of Habitation (Secretaria Municipal de Habitação), will publicise and promote the project whilst ensuring the highest technical standards are being adhered to. The table below is an outline of the project cost estimations:

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‘Morar Carioca’ Urbanisation Works

The execution of urbanisation projects will be undertaken with respect to the individual characteristics of the individual unit classification:

Small settlements with less than 100 domiciles – works on overhaul of water supply systems, sewage supply, rainwater drainage, public illumination and paving.

Favelas with between 100 and 500 domiciles – urbanisation plans will incorporate wide scale improvements to water supply systems, sewage supply, rainwater drainage, road access, internal vehicle circulation, leisure areas, landscaping and the elimination of high risk / dangerous areas as well as the implementation of urban regulation processes.

Favelas with more than 500 domiciles – these will fall under 2 categories:

1. Partially urbanised – complementary provisions to serve existing infrastructure, namely: water supply systems, sewage supply, rainwater drainage, improvements to road / paving access, internal vehicle circulation, leisure areas, landscaping, public equipment, elimination of high risk / dangerous areas and the implementation of urban regulation processes;
2. Non-urbanised – a considerable level of residential construction will be combined with a range urbanisation projects including water supply systems, sewage supply, rainwater drainage, improvements to road / paving access, internal vehicle circulation, leisure areas, landscaping, public equipment, elimination of high risk / dangerous areas, the implementation of urban regulation processes, the promotion of new work opportunities for residents and conservation projects;

Favelas which are impossible to urbanise – at 122, these settlements are deemed as extremely difficult to create feasible urbanisation and residential projects. Families living in these communities will be re-housed under the Minha Casa, Minha Vida (My House, My Life) projects.

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Urban Legalisation & Guidance – POUSO

To regulate and integrate the city’s favelas into the formal system, the Rio de Janeiro government have developed a system of rules which will define how the urbanisation projects will be carried out as well as the ongoing management procedures post-works. The essential aim is to create an environment where residents can benefit most from the new living conditions whilst offering increased security, community support and organisation. All the favelas that do not have such systems in place will therefore be obliged to adhere to the established rules under the auspices of POUSOs – Postos de Orientação Urbanística e Social, ligados à Secretaria de Urbanismo (Urban and Social Guidance, attached to the Secretariat of Urbanism). Today, there are currently 30 in operation in Rio’s favelas – consisting of engineers, architects, social workers and other service providers as well as community development workers from the favelas themselves – with another 100 to be in place by 2020. POUSOs essentially represent the presence of the municipal government within the favelas whilst also legally regulating all real estate; supervising compliance with rules; ensuring that public / conservational areas are well maintained and soliciting other public / private organisations to deal with day to day management issues.

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Monitoring and Control

In order for the urbanisation programme to be implemented properly, it was also deemed necessary to control the growth of favelas in their current form as well as prevent a surge of new ones appearing. The success of this procedure depends on the cooperation of the residents as well as desire on their part to reform – particularly as there may be some favela residents that may not want the changes to happen. Furthermore, the active participation of the Secretariat of Urbanism and the Housing & Public Order Department (Habitação e da Ordem Pública) will also be paramount. The following actions are therefore going to be put in place:

• Delimitation of the areas of the settlements in order to create clearly defined community boundaries within which the development of further local resident associations will be actively encouraged;
• Limits of each community will be indicated by highly visible signs;
• Limits and boundaries of each community will be made publically available;
• Annual monitoring of all areas in which detailed aerial photography will be taken and registered to ensure unauthorised development is not being undertaken.
• Urban legislation specific to each community which will allow the Rio city government legalise each and every building as well as to control occupation levels;
• Continual observation of growth without the proper procedures will be implemented with strictly enforceable and fully legal bans should there be any breach of code;
• Demolition of irregular buildings that do not conform to legal standards.

The SEOP (Secretaria de Estado de Obras Públicas, State Secretary of Public Works) will be responsible for the planning of works, coordination and overall monitoring of the ‘Morar Carioca’ programme.

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Conservation

Within the partnership between the Rio de Janeiro city government and the favela communities is the integration of a range of environmental / conservation based projects, to be run and managed by SECONSERVA (Secretaria Municipal de Conservação e Serviços Públicos, the Municipal Department of Conservation and Public Services). The organisation’s already established role will be spread into the newly urbanised communities incorporating a range of ongoing responsibilities including: road / paving / bicycle lane maintenance; regular drainage inspections; lighting / illumination maintenance; street cleaning; garbage / waste disposal; recycling facilities and the maintenance of green / public spaces. The essential aim of SECONSERVA is to work closely within the new regenerated communities (which are currently neglected) whilst offering exactly the same public service as what exists in all other parts of the city.

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