Brazil Case Study
Brazil Case Study
Brazil Case Study
Push factors:
Pull factors:
Rio de Janeiro now has half a million homeless, 1.5 million living in favelas (shanty towns) and another 1 million
living in poor quality local authority housing.
That means that half the population of Rio is living in poor quality housing, or worse.
The hope of better work and the chance to make money
Better schools
Better healthcare
More entertainment
Problems (Housing):
There are over 700 favelas in/near to Rio, each with more than 60 families.
The largest of them is known as Rocinha.
Favelas are not very stable – most are built on steep, unused hillsides from any materials available – and thus
storms and landslides are a problem.
In 1988 storms caused 200 deaths.
As they are on the base of hills, sewage from favelas further up the hill may stream through the favela.
Problems (Crime):
Problems (Traffic):
Problems (Pollution):
Solutions (Self-help):
Residents of Rocinha have slowly transformed their favela into a small city, built with better materials.
They have set up shops and small industries.
The authorities, having accepted the existence of favelas, now work with the residents.
They have helped to add electricity and satellite TV, paved and lit the streets and added water pipes.
However, improvements are restricted by the high density of housing and the steep hillside.
Even though the residents of favelas can develop their home, they cannot provide basic infrastructure.
So, some governments, the World Bank and leading charities have set up these schemes.
They provide a site, basic building materials, and links to electricity, water and drainage.