Olympics revisited – Rio’s Morro da Providencia

For this next post, I want to revisit the oldest favela in Rio de Janeiro- Morro da Providencia- a favela Continue reading →

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 AECOM’s original Continue reading →

The Olympic Juggernaut Hits Rio de Janeiro: Is there a compelling new story? [1]

PART 1: Background [Guest Post by Maulik Bansal] SEE Intro Post On October 1, 2009, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Continue reading →

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 Continue reading →

Favela re-nomadizada I

[1] La organización espacial del sur-continente (de México a Argentina), ha sido explicada desde una perspectiva occidental; así, la historia Continue reading →

Bolsonaro and Rocinha

If you’ve followed politics in the Western Hemisphere over the past two years, you are pretty familiar with the pattern Continue reading →

At Election Time- What about Favelas?

The most recent poll I could find, says Marcelo Freixo is trailing the other Mercelo Crivella in Rio’s mayoral election Continue reading →

Planning Failure, Ecological Failure

  The opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics are quickly approaching. The years since Rio was awarded the 2016 Summer Continue reading →

Political Titans and Cost of Living

You can hardly throw a digital rock without hitting Brazil-related reporting these days. As big a deal as zika/microcephaly is Continue reading →

Civics & Favelas: Fighting the Good Fight

Life has not become any easier over the past few years for residents of Brazilan favelas. Civic life across Brazil Continue reading →

Rio’s Current Crime Spike: Trends and Individuals

Much has been made and is being made of Rio’s post-Pacification upswing in crime, in particular in relation to the Continue reading →

On The Architecture of Recent Urban Interventions [In Informal Settlements]

Named by the Urban Land Institute as the Most Innovative city of 2013 and hosting the UN Habitat’s World Urban Continue reading →

The radical urbanists that sparked Brazilian protests

Urban resistance has rocked Brazil since June 2013. On the largest day of protests, 20 June, two million citizens took Continue reading →

In response to Suketu Mehta and his “violent favelas of Brazil”

When Suketu Mehta, essayist and author of the acclaimed book Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found wrote a piece about Brazilian Continue reading →

Brazilian Architects and Urbanists Seize the Moment

The protests in Brazil began over an issue of a fare increase on public transportation, and grew to encompass demands Continue reading →

Knowing the Favela

The current paradigm of ‘favela integration’ in Rio de Janeiro requires that the favelas themselves become an object of knowledge. Continue reading →

Pacification and 24 Hour Surveillance in Rocinha

The favela pacification process is well under way in Rio’s favelas–the process of reclaiming territory once run by drug gangs Continue reading →

Happy New Year from the Morro

Just about every American I know who’s been just about anywhere in Latin America baffles about how all the good Continue reading →

Public Space-Public Investment

It’s summertime where I live. And I get an extra dose of seasonal exuberance from my living room window into Continue reading →

Questions of perspective: research as nation-building

Brazilian academics, once known for their fierce criticism of the state and Brazilian politics, now express tempered optimism. This post Continue reading →