Remaking Rio: favela tourism and the tourist narrative: part I
The above video shows a new tourist attraction in the famous favela Santa Marta: paintball. Brought to you by Off the Track Rio, a collaboration between a Santa Marta resident and a US-exchange student. Some of you may be shocked or even appalled by the moral implications of a bunch of rowdy, privileged foreigners playing war games in what used to be a favela controlled by a notorious drug lord. (If so, feel free to debate it out on the blog of the co-creator, where he has addressed such criticisms). I myself am fascinated, because through this project they are making a space of leisure and fun in which residents and ‘outsiders’ engage with one another through play. As a side note, at 25 reais a game (about 15 USD, and residents play at a “steep discount” according to the co-creator), paintball in Santa Marta is far more economical than any favela tour I have ever seen advertised.
- Favela Paintball in Santa Marta. Source: http://wp.me/p1XQo2-13
Front cover of the UN report critiqued by Gilbert.
Like all social categories, concepts, identities and definitions, slum is not static but constantly reproduced and contested (locally and globally). In a recent paper, Gareth Jones examines aesthetic representations of slums and how spatial and territorialized stigma can be challenged through art and what he calls “aesthetic work” [2]. With a global approach, Jones offers examples from Accra, Durban, London and Rio de Janeiro. The Rio example of Projeto Morrinho is especially interesting. What started as a small project by local youth Read More…
Favela and Futebol III: 1950′s maracanazo
For the first time since the advent of World War II the soccer world reconvened in Brazil in June, July 1950. With the Maracanã as the larger stadium in the planet, the country that played well in 1938 (3rd place) was galvanized around its Seleção that seemed unstoppable. In the first phase Brazil beat Mexico (4-0), tied with Switzerland (2-2) and beat Youguslavia (2-0). With a couple of nervous appearances the Seleção was not as exuberant in its first 3 games. The biggest surprise of all was the amateurish team of USA beating England (1-0) in Belo Horizonte, sending the favorite British Team back home.
The second and final phase between the hosts, Sweden, Spain and Uruguay would see the Brazilian splendor that all 50 million Brazilians were waiting for. The first game was an elastic 7-0 win over Sweden, followed by another “goleada” of 6-1 over Spain. Meanwhile, Uruguay struggled to tie with the Swedes (2-2) and beat the Spanish (3-2) on a very tough game.
For the final on July 16th 1950 the Maracanã stadium was at full capacity (200,000) waiting for Brazil to continue its winning strike and take the FIFA World Cup for the first time. Brazil would be champion with a simple tie and actually scores first. But Uruguay’s dangerous counter-attacks worked twice. End of the game, Uruguay 2-1 Brazil. The biggest loss Read More…
Já Era o Nem: So What’s Next for Zona Sul’s Favela Residents?
I have a friend, Antônio Carlos who lives with his little family in the jungle just above Rocinha, somehow more free from the socioeconomic messiness surrounding his friends and family in the valley below. Antônio Carlos was born and raised in Rocinha and is a remarkably wonderful person.
Something unremarkable about him is that all his adolescent years he was actively recruited by the neighborhood drug traffickers. Antônio Carlos is a respectable guy and the higher ups in the drug gangs could see that we was honest, reliable and a hard worker. They, like any business, sought to draw in individuals who would grow their enterprise and help them make money.
Something else about Antônio Carlos that may or may not be remarkable is that he grew up soccer buddies with another Antônio. This Antônio, Antônio Francisco Bonfim Lopes, grew up to one day become the “Dono do Morro.” “Morro” means “hill” where favelas are usually located, and “Dono” translates as “landlord, owner, proprietor,” etc. It’s the sad and telling title for the chief drug trafficker. And that Antônio’s career as “Dono do Morro” was recently cut short by his arrest at the hands of a coordinated law enforcement effort, an invasion of the hill during the first week in Novemeber of 2011.
Wanted Poster for Antônio Francisco Bonfim Lopes, leader of Rocinha the drug faction based in Rocinha
The various law enforcement agencies announced their intention to invade and a shortly thereafter, they had captured the man who some regarded as the most wanted criminal in Rio.
Typically when we think of cocaine dealers running multimillion dollar operations, what comes to mind? Griselda Blanco? Pablo Escobar? Do we think of people who lack only empathy and shame more than they lack scruples? Thugs of shrewd intellect and pitiless character? Read More…
Favela and Futebol II: the not so belle époque
Leonidas da Silva, 1940s.
In the first decades of the twentieth century the capital city of Rio de Janeiro went through drastic transformations. Appointed mayor in 1902, Pereira Passos got absolute powers to literally “sanitize” downtown Rio. Inspired by Hausmman Parisian reforms, Passos opened a series of new avenues downtown, helping connect the port and the commercial center with the bourgeoning zona-sul, the ocean front areas of Rio being occupied by the wealthier. In the process, thousands of humble structures (cortiços) were demolished, its inhabitants simply pushed out.
A significant portion of the 5,000 people displaced, having nowhere else to go, got their few belongings and moved up the hills helping fuel the growth of the favelas. The “sanitation” project used real public health concerns to push forward another kind of “cleaning”: to eradicate the mostly black and mulatto poor population from downtown Rio and make it look as European (meaning white) as possible. The belle-époque was not so belle after all.
Racial undertones were so pervasive in Brazil that even a modernist prophet like Lucio Costa wrote in 1928 about “this anonymous crowd that take the trains (…) making us ashamed everywhere. What can we expect from such population? All is a result of race. The race being good the government will be good and good will be the architecture. Say what you may, our basic problem is selective migration, the rest is secondary, will happen by itself.” (Costa in O Pais, July 1st, 1928).
No wonder that dark skinned athletes had to powder their faces and make their skin lighter-colored in order to play. Fluminense, one of the great soccer teams of Rio is still called Read More…
The Olympic Juggernaut Hits Rio de Janeiro: Is there a compelling new story? [2]
PART 2: Olympics and Vila Autodromo [Guest Post by Maulik Bansal]
CLICK TO SEE previous posts: Intro and Part 1
Vila Autodromo – a favela on the western edge of the proposed Olympic Park. Source: ‘Brazil Olympics may send poor families packing’ – Alison Coffey. www.globalpost.com
AECOM’s original masterplan almost deliberately overlooks the favela Vila Autodromo. Although the four major components of Barra da Tijuca’s Olympic proposal have pivoted around this crucial land parcel, its current inhabitation has not seemed worthy of consideration. In fact, the fragmentation of the masterplan into four components and their subsequent planning by independent agencies has made the existing community of Vila Autodromo ‘peripheral’. Interestingly, the AECOM proposal places the overhead connection between the Olympic Park and the Convention Center along the southern edge of the community. If one pays closer to attention to this peripheral element, it appears as though AECOM proposes to restructure the existing road network of this area without affecting this favela.
Nevertheless, AECOM does not have the last word in the overall masterplan. The municipal authorities have ignored AECOM’s approach, and have continued to find ways to evict residents of the small favela. Indeed, Vila Autodromo would probably be too visible and stand out in a shiny new Olympic masterplan. How can Rio de Janeiro afford to showcase its not-so-bright reality to the world? The new image of the bright new future has no room for these unplanned, spontaneous and illegal developments that pock-mark Rio’s urban landscape.
But, Vila Autodromo is not a new neighborhood. It started out as a fishermen community, and has been there for nearly 40 years. It is a low- and middle-income community of about 2,000 people that is five times older than the Convention Center. It has residents rather than the transient population of the Convention Center, and is built with the idea of permanence unlike the pre-fabricated and assembled steel frame of the Convention Center that has been generously integrated into the masterplan. Moreover, this community has legal rights to be there, on land leased to them by the government in 1994 for 40 years. Yet, the Olympic Bid chose to retain the Convention Center over a living community. In fact, the Bid Document does not even acknowledge the existence of this community.
Over the last few years local authorities have made repeated attempts at notifying “obstructing” communities on their imminent relocation. However, these authorities and their top-down approaches to planning have obviously overlooked Read More…
The Olympic Juggernaut Hits Rio de Janeiro: Is there a compelling new story? [1]
PART 1: Background [Guest Post by Maulik Bansal]
On October 1, 2009, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that the Summer Olympic Games 2016 will be hosted by Rio de Janeiro. The Bid Document submitted by Rio de Janeiro was an extensively detailed and thorough proposal consisting of a three-volume document explaining all administrative, financial, social and technical aspects.
Accompanying traditional concerns of transportation, sport, health, education and environment, the bid reflected an elaborate narrative on an urgent need for the ‘new’ and for ‘transformation’.
“The Rio Games will also celebrate and showcase sport thanks to the city’s stunning setting and a desire to lift event presentation to new heights. Rio 2016 will excel in meeting all the needs of the Games Family…. At the same time, Rio 2016 will be an opportunity to deliver the broader aspirations for the long-term future of the city, region and country – an opportunity to hasten the transformation of Rio de Janeiro into an even greater global city.” “For the people of Rio, the Games will transform their city with new infrastructure, new environmental, physical and social initiatives and new benefits and opportunities for all…. They will bring a new level of global recognition for Brazil. Superb Games and stunning broadcast imagery will provide a long-term boost to tourism and Brazil’s growing reputation as an exciting and rewarding place to live, do business and visit….History’s first Games in a new continent, in a city with unique global image, will open new horizons, building interest and enthusiasm over the full four years of the Olympiad. The media and sponsors will be excited by a new destination, bringing new value to the Olympic and Paralympic brands. A compelling new story is ready to be told.”
(Extracts from Vol.1 of Candidature File for Rio de Janeiro to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games)
Indeed, a very well written and compelling story. A story that –although at present fictional-has the potential to manifest itself into reality with the right political will and public sacrifice.. A work of fiction so intent on its manifestation, that it inspires political will and social sacrifice. After all, would questioning such narratives not constitute a regressive, even unpatriotic attitude? Who wants to become a stumbling block in the city’s and the country’s path towards a new future?
In order to ensure that all development with regard to the Summer Olympics and other mega-events, such as the FIFA World Cup 2014, are beneficial to Read More…
Tale of Two Transits
I recently ran into a video well worth checking out on the Abahlali baseMjondolo homepage. The video documents comments made by Bandile Mdlalose representing Abahlali baseMjondolo (The South African Shack Dwellers Movement) at a round table discussion of how the media is addressing climate change in the lead up to COP 17 now underway in Durban. Ms Mdlalose says,
“The lack from our understanding is the language [of climate change]. The language tends to be very very high class. It has spoken too much language that sometimes leaves the poor people outside the talks because the language has become too much. Maybe if we could come down with the language linking it with our daily struggle… “
Bandile Mdlalose addresses SACSIS/Friedrich Ebert Stiftung roundtable discussion on "The Media and Climate Change." Click for full video on the Abahlali baseMjondolo website.
And I find myself once again agreeing, yes the language has become too much, hasn’t it. And yes, it does leave the poor out of the conversation and yes it does ignore the daily struggles of the poor. At the rate we are going, we will be talking our planet to death. A lot of these problems were the downfall of COP 15 and are likely to provide insurmountable in COP 17 as well. And really what can we expect, the language has become too much: too much talking, too much ignoring the poor (most of the world, lest we forget).
And speaking of class as it relates to climate change, Foster + Partners just released their master plan for integrating the British transit systems. It is very cool. And huge. Colossal. It makes the word colossal seem quaint. It’s the sort of planning project that comes around only as often as ambition that boundless. So what does it have to do with class, or climate change?
Foster’s Thames Hub, is slated to be the integration of all genres of travel, freight, logistics, and even energy and information. Foster + Partners offers as its impetus for the scope of the project “Britain can no longer trade on an inadequate and aged infrastructure… We are rolling over and saying we are no longer competitive – and this is a competitive world.” The explanation of the project is sopping with bravado and enthusiasm for global capitalism, touting its ability to “maximize trade links” and offering an endorsement from a noted consultant on the positive effects of agglomeration on capitalist markets. Lord Foster (hilarious that he’s a “Lord”) even goes so far as to assert that “I believe we do not have a choice” as to building this colossus of infrastructure.
The Thames Hub, Foster + Partners. Click for F+P's project description. Image Copyright Foster + Partners.
Of course this is as silly as the presupposition that global capitalism and Britain’s success therein is what is singularly good, righteous, and necessary to the prosperity of future generations of Britons.
All the same, I was struck by my own reaction to the Thames hub. It reminded me of reading in Edmund Burke and Jean Francois Lyotard regarding the Sublime. Burke defines the Sublime as that Read More…
The Olympic Juggernaut Hits Rio de Janeiro: Is there a compelling new story?
Guest Post by Maulik Bansal
Today more people live in urban areas than ever before. Our cities are changing rapidly and will continue to do so, and a resilient city may be one that is flexible and adaptable to these changing conditions in social, economical and physical development. Over the last decade, China and the Gulf region have been driven by economic stimulus and authoritarian governments that are able to rapidly and comprehensively change the shape of their urban structure and heritage, though sometimes in disputable and non-democratic ways. It may be argued that such interventions are often associated with authoritative governmental role. But this article contends that it is often the paradigm of intervention itself that enables the government to adopt such a role.
One such paradigm is the mega event, and its perception as a symbol of the resilience and strength of an economy, supposedly representative of the aspirations of its people. As John Short mentions in his 2008 article ‘Globalization, cities and the Summer Olympics’ published in City,
“Across the world city elites are promoting a global city imaginary; a vision of a self-consciously ‘global’ city replete with images of busy international airports, foreign tourists, inward investment, a cosmopolitan atmosphere, creative industries, cultural economies and an overwhelmingly positive image shared around the world.”
However, the scope of the event transcends mere advertising, and becomes a catalyst for significant urban renewal and socio-economic change. Here, it is not the projection of an identity, but the actual manufacturing of it that takes center stage. Here, lies the critical point of juncture – a ‘make-or-break’ situation – that the city is faced with. Facing ever-increasing pressures
Favela and Futebol I – 1894
Demolitions in Rio, 1904
When Charles Miller arrived from England in 1894 with two used footballs in the luggage Antonio Conselheiro had already gathered thousands of followers at the village of Canudos in Bahia. Conselheiro’s preaching gave hope to destitute rural workers and ex-slaves, and his religious community in the backlands of Bahia started interfering with the local labor market. With the excuse that he was a danger to the nascent republic (he was indeed against the separation of church and state) the “authorities” sent armed men to quest the “rebellion”. The three first ones were defeated, the last and larger one, with 3,000 soldiers and heavy artillery finally managed to kill every man standing in 1897. Canudos was the first war of the Brazilian republic against its own people, as chronicled by Euclides da Cunha (Os Sertões, 1902) and Vargas Llhosa (La Guerra del fin del mundo, 1981), and sadly would not be the last.
As if in another planet, Charles Miller was born in São Paulo of a Scottish father and sent to study in England. When he returned in 1894 he brought two leather spheres in his luggage, allegedly the first footballs to arrive in Brazil[1].
By the turn of the century there were several football clubs functioning in Brazil, all formed by white men of middle and upper middle class. The traditional clubs of today: Fluminense, Botafogo, Vasco da Gama, Corinthians and Atlético Mineiro were all founded before 1910. Futebol conquered Brazil from the top down.
Meanwhile, the soldiers (mostly black) sent to the Canudos expedition had nowhere to live when returned to Rio de Janeiro after two years of military campaign. The War Ministry allowed them to camp on a hill downtown which they named Morro da Favela because the place looked like a hill full of favas (bean sacks) in Canudos were they had camped during the assault. Ever since, the term favela applies to settlements built Read More…
The Sambinha of Urban Density
This month, as our planet’s population jumped past 7 billion, our focus on population density –people per unit of land, and per natural resource—seems appropriately more acute.
In the short time I’ve studied Rio’s Favela Rocinha I have yet to encounter any sources willing to estimate its urban density. And reconciling the density of an informal community is a pretty sticky business. For one thing, the population in and of itself is extremely difficult to estimate in a community that is defined by geographic and migrational flux, not to mention political self-administration.
Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro showing figure ground relative to natural vegetation.
Of the two figures that comprise the density ratio, population and land area, calculations range from decent guess to shot in the dark. If you were to visit Rocinha today, almost uniformly people would tell you tales of its population dominance among Brazilian favelas; some people will even include all of Latin America in their claims of favela rankings. They may claim that there more than a million people living in Rocinha’s narrow valley. But, from the more reliable sources, however, you’d hear that there were more like 200,000 to 250,000 residents.
After crunching a few of the figures I ran across (from the Resident’s Association, the 2010 Census, the local utility company, Light) I estimate that Rocinha houses roughly between 239,000 and 690,000 people per square mile (ppsm)—the latter figure I consider more accurate. For context the most densely populated city on earth is Manila, Philippines with 111,576 people per square mile.
I live in a small town. By the standard of western US towns and cities it could be considered pretty liveable: it’s quiet, it’s relatively walkable even to some degree having avoided some of the pitfalls of suburban sprawl. Sometimes to explain it to people where I live, I tell them to picture western towns before the interstate highway system (an image that’s increasingly difficult to conjure).
Rocinha's and Moscow's respective commercial centers.
Some people where I live cringe at the thought of cities: the congestion, the pollution, even just the numbers of people are enough to give some folks in the rural west fits of claustrophobia. Having been raised in the rural west Read More…
Adriana Navarro Sertich
Lubaina Rangwala
Jennifer Renteria
Kirsten Larson
Proyectos Arqui5
Tucker Landesman
Namrata Kapoor
Paula Restrepo-Cadavid
Andrew Carman
Jose Antonio Ramirez
Fernando Luiz Lara
Bethany Opalach
