Union Seminar: Brazil Societal Changes

Olympics and Favelas: Rio 2016

When Rio was selected, there was entire jubilation. Rio is the first city in South America to host the Olympics. Holding the Olympics helps spur up redevelopment. Housing is built sometimes, but it is usually for athletes and not families. Olympics requires renovating the infrastructure. Many stadiums are built that are ever used again after the Olympics. For example, the softball field in Athens for the 2004 games. Rio is currently dealing with corruption scandals. There are 120,000 people being displaced to build stadiums.

What leads to Favelas and rapid urbanization?

            In 1960, the world population was 3 billion, with 30% urban. Today, it is 7 billion, with over 50% of the population in urban areas. By 2050, the world population will be 9.5 billion people, with 70% living in urban areas. 30% of urban dwellers live in informal settlements. Why does rapid urbanization occur? People head off from the country into the city, for whatever reason, and end up in the city because it is their only option. Informal housing is basically DIY housing that occurs in the margins of the city. It is typical to happen near highways, airports, and railways, to be filled in by the people who need housing. Informal houses are occasionally bulldozed by the government, but it will be rebuilt within a few months. In Rio, the houses climb up the slopes of the mountain. Fires are a huge issue in these settlements because there are no codes in effect, and the homes are so close together, that the fire spreads very rapidly. They are also drastically affected by earthquakes, because there is not much support to hold the homes up.

Governance without Government

            The governments typically cannot handle the enormity of the rush to the rural and urban areas. Favelatos are the people who live in the favelas. They were built at the end of the 19^th century for the soldiers who just came back from war. The governments rarely ever provided the favelas for the people. The people go out of their communities for the things that they need, such as water and electricity. Favelas come from the name of a tree in the area around Salvador. Urbanization kept forcing people to move to the cities. 6.5 million people in Brazil live in favelas. Drug cartels do run some favelas in Rio and San Paulo, which gives the government an excuse to clean them up every once in a while. There is an internal cohesion in these communities. With the Olympics coming, the government is trying to tear down the favelas because it is not good for tourism. The neighborhoods run just like other Brazilian neighborhoods. Religion plays an important role in the favelas. Many people in these areas do not have claims to their location, but they have claim to their possessions. Some favelas actually do not have a lot of crime, because there are groups that help mediate disputes. These areas are internally safe for the residents. The government cannot provide for them, but the internal structures do; they serve the needs of their own people.

Jenny Barchfield (American/French), Press Coverage: What is happening in favelas today and looking towards future events

            What makes favelas interesting in Rio is that they occur in the center of the city, rather than in the margins. When slavery was abolished in 1888, as one of the last major countries in the world, many of the slaves traveled to Rio and made their settlements in areas that they could find. There are very few areas for people to live, because Rio is bounded by the ocean, mountains, and a lake. In the 1970s-80s, favelas became centers for the drug trade. Rio started to decay and decline once the capital moved. In the Olympic bid, they promised to make the city safe for the games. Their strategy to do this was to take over the favelas, by combined force of military police and soldiers from the army. They would take over one favela at a time, usually at night. Through the media, they would tell the people that they would go into certain favelas on certain days, which allowed all of the drug kings to escape.
            If you are a squatter of an area for over 5 years, you are given the deed to that area, which has been a very positive aspect of the UPP program. Any favela near a high-rent area in Rio has been pacified. There are three or four favelas in particular that will be affected  by the Olympics. There is one that will be rehoused in a high-rise because that area will become the Olympic village. This is an advantage because traffic in Rio is so horrible, so now they may be close to their jobs. There are new highway systems being built, so people in these areas need to be forcibly moved as well. Unlike with the Olympic village area, these people will be at disadvantage because the will be placed outside the city. This raises the concern about what will happen after the Olympics end. People are concerned that funding for the UPP program will end once the Olympics end, which may bring back the drug cartels, which cancels out all the progress that has been made. Many properties in the city have gone up in price 3, 4, 5 times because of the Olympics. There are two hotels being built on the top of the mountain. Because many favelas were there, they paid a premium price to have the favelas removed so that the hotels could be constructed.