The city of Rio de Janeiro has accumulated a history of favela urbanization policies since the 1980s, following years of violent mass removal processes and the construction of large housing complexes to which part of the favela population was forcibly relocated.
Urbanization policies began to take shape during the administration of governor Leonel Brizola (1983-87), but it was from 1992 onward, with the enactment of the Ten-Year Master Plan of the City of Rio de Janeiro, that the idea of a plan to integrate favelas into the rest of the city took hold. In 1993, the Municipal Housing Secretariat (SMH) was created, and in 1995, the Rio de Janeiro Program for the Urbanization of Popular Settlements (PROAP).
During Mayor César Maia's first term (1993-97), the SMH developed the Favela-Bairro Program as part of PROAP. Conceived by architect Luiz Paulo Conde, then Municipal Secretary of Urban Planning, the program's objectives centered on improving living conditions in favelas by promoting safe construction, easier access, consolidated infrastructure, and the creation of community facilities.
Map of Interventions of the Favela Bairro Program. Source: Prefeitura do Rio
Image description: The image is a satellite map of an urban area, highlighting interventions by the Favela-Bairro Program. The spatial layout begins on the left, showing a peninsula with dense vegetation, moving to the right, where there is a large urban area with buildings and streets. In the center, there is a concentration of red dots indicating the locations of the interventions. On the right, there is an island with dense vegetation. The map is in natural colors, showing green and blue areas. At the top, there is a logo of the Rio City Hall and the title "Map of Interventions of the Favela-Bairro Program."During the administration of Luiz Paulo Conde (1997-2000), a partnership between the Rio City Hall and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) favored the expansion of Favela-Bairro. One of the program's highlights was the creation of the Urban and Social Guidance Centers (POUSO, 1996) to guide residents in the process of construction and organization of space.
Vila Elza, in Rio Comprido, after the Favela-Bairro interventions.
Image description: The image is a photograph of a street in a residential neighborhood. On the left, there is a red brick wall with a small entrance. In the center, there is a two-story building with a red roof. On the right, there is a red brick fence and green plants. In the background, there is a hill covered with green vegetation. The sky is clear and blue.The Favela-Bairro Program was replaced, in 2010, by the Morar Carioca Program, during the first term of Mayor Eduardo Paes. With the bold goal of urbanizing all the city's favelas by 2020, the program, despite having reached around 500,000 residents between 2010 and 2016, did not get past the second phase of implementation.
Praça do Conhecimento, in the Favela Nova Brasília (Complexo do Alemão), built during the Morar Carioca program. City of Rio de Janeiro.
Image description: This is a photograph of an urban square, with a modern building on the left, marked "Praça do Conhecimento." In the background, there is a densely populated favela with numerous colorful houses. On the right, there is a blue building with a large image of Einstein. The sky is clear and blue, and there are green trees scattered throughout the area.Elected mayor of Rio again in 2020, Eduardo Paes plans to implement phase IV of Favela-Bairro, revamped and with new features: sustainable housing, with solar energy and green roofs, for example, in addition to the inclusion of income-generation policies and measures to combat racial and gender inequalities.
