The port region of Rio de Janeiro has, since colonial times, been a point of urban and economic transformation, essential to the city's development. During the colonial period, the area around the port was marked by small coves, beach arcs, marshes, gamboas, and lagoons. The associated ecosystems of the Atlantic Forest, such as mangroves, sandbank vegetation, and marshes, made up this landscape, sharing it with the vegetation typical of the rocky coastal outcrops by the sea and the Atlantic Forest on the slopes and tops of the small hills and islands along this coastline. The process of European colonization, clearly linked to maritime territories and the transport of colonial goods to the metropolis, tied to the great voyages of navigation, needed to find sheltered waters for ships, and this coastline met those requirements. Besides beaches with calm waters, the important access to the agricultural lands of the great lowlands of Rio's North Zone determined the location of the port area. Through there, the land of the sugar mills that dominated the plains north of the entire Maciço da Tijuca was connected — where the Engenho Velho da Tijuca, the Engenho Novo, the Engenho de Dentro, and the Engenho da Rainha were located — all the way to the Jacarepaguá lowlands, in the Sertão Carioca, with its eleven sugar mills.
Rio de Janeiro's growing importance as a commercial hub and, later, as the capital of the Empire, drove a series of landfill and urbanization works throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. The landfill process in the port region began in the 19th century, with the construction of Praça Mauá and the formation of spaces for trading goods coming from across the explored land. From the second half of the 19th century onward, with the intensification of port activity and the city's growth, mangroves, lagoons, and marshes were filled in, and dense occupation came to support the growing port infrastructure. The Port of Rio's expansion project, dating back to the imperial government of Dom Pedro II, intensified in the early 20th century, when the landfills became bolder, allowing for the construction of large warehouses, docks, and the installation of new urban spaces along the bay.
Image description: This is a photograph of a soccer stadium located in a coastal city. On the left side, we see an extensive urban area with buildings of different heights, roads, and a bridge over the sea. Moving to the right, the focus shifts to the stadium, standing out for its modern architecture with a curved roof and colorful seats. In the center of the image, there is a large green area with trees and vegetation. Further to the right, we see more buildings and a structure that appears to be a train station. The sky is partly cloudy, giving the image a light gray tone.Landfills of the Rio Maracanã lowlands, from Saco de São Diogo to São Cristóvão, mark the first major transformation of the port region in its advance to the tip of Caju, in the far-left portion of the photo, and, later, Saco de Inhaúma, already outside the photo
With the growth of international trade and the increase in activities, the port zone built and transformed downtown. The expansion of the Porto do Rio de Janeiro throughout the 20th century was marked by a series of infrastructure and engineering projects, and this physical transformation, however, was accompanied by profound changes in the city's social and economic dynamics, with the increase in the working population that began to concentrate in the areas near the port, creating a zone of intense working-class urbanization.
With every economic surge experienced, whether through international trade or through the city of Rio de Janeiro's own dynamics of capital availability, another wave of urbanization takes shape and reshapes the port region. New phases of landfill, advances over the sea, the expansion of berths for larger ships in the port area, or the expansion of its rear-port zone directly influenced the city's Centro, since the region is immediately adjacent and directly affected by its activities. These transformations go beyond physical changes, spreading in a network across the urban fabric through intangible flows that transform social relations or even the very value of properties near the transformation works.
Starting in the 2000s, Rio de Janeiro's port region underwent a new transformation with the Porto Maravilha project, which aimed to "revitalize" and modernize the entire area, focusing not only on port infrastructure but also on creating a more accessible and functional urban environment for citizens. The Porto Maravilha project, officially launched in 2010, involved a vast process of recovery and remodeling of the port area, including landfill work and the urbanization of areas adjacent to the docks, as well as a major effort to revitalize public space and build new commercial and cultural centers. The project also sought to better integrate the region with the rest of the city, connecting the Historic Center area to the Zona Portuária, in addition to creating new spaces for gathering and leisure, such as the Museu do Amanhã and the creation of the Boulevard Olímpico.
Porto Maravilha, therefore, is the continuation of a long process of transformation of Rio de Janeiro's port region, which began with the first landfills and the construction of infrastructure in the colonial period and extends to the present day, with the discourse of modernization of the urban, touristic, and commercial center. Thus, the landfill of the port region was an expression of the city's growth and evolution, shaping both its landscape and its economic and social dynamics over the centuries, creating effects in line with the capitalization of space.
The Porto Maravilha project, in this way, jointly generated a gentrification process in the port region that, although it brought modernization and revitalization to the area, resulted in the expulsion of the low-income populations that had traditionally inhabited the place, repeating the pulses of "revitalization" that have always been part of the discourses of modernization and growth of the city. The real estate appreciation driven by the project attracted large private investments, with the construction of luxury condominiums, hotels, corporate buildings, and shopping centers. As a result, property prices skyrocketed, making it difficult for the poorer families who, until then, had occupied areas that remained from the territories of the so-called "Pequena África," such as Pedra do Sal and the Morros da Conceição and da Providência, historic neighborhoods of the city, to remain there. The real estate speculation intensified by these changes led to a social reconfiguration of the region, with traditional residents being replaced by a public with greater purchasing power, profoundly altering the demographic and social makeup of the neighborhood. Although the area has become more modern and accessible, the gentrification process has also generated a negative social impact, with the displacement of communities and the increase of urban inequalities.
Image description: This is a photograph of a city at dawn. On the left side, we see a series of mountains covered in mist, while on the right, the sun is rising over the horizon. In the center, the city is densely populated with buildings of different heights and shapes. On the right, there is a large body of water that stretches to the horizon.Porto Maravilha. The texture of the buildings shows each chapter of the occupation and the phases of landfill and real estate transformation.
