The urbanization of a favela begins with the survey of the problems that affect the region. From the lack of basic sanitation to the absence of asphalt, the obstacles vary – even the location of the settlement can be a problem. “Favelas tend to arise in regions that other real estate developments have not occupied: under bridges and viaducts, beside streams or on the slopes of hills”, says Alex Abiko, professor of civil engineering at USP. Urbanization of favelas in Brazil is recent. In the 60s, residents were simply removed. Then, around the 1980s, government programs began to resolve specific issues, such as water networks. Today, the projects include not only infrastructure but also an improvement in the quality of life. See here the main problems that affect favelas and turn the page to understand how they are urbanized.
besieged city
Lack of infrastructure, precarious health conditions and social problems affect favelas
DOWN HILL
In large cities, in general, the only free terrains are risky areas, such as hillsides and ravines. It is precisely in these urban voids that favelas emerge. Improvised houses on the edge of hills are at risk of undermining and landslides. The steeper the terrain, the greater the risk.
SHORT CIRCUIT
Many favelas do not have official electricity grids and resort to cats to divert energy. Clandestine connections, made with old and inappropriate material, are dangerous: they can cause shocks to anyone passing near a bare wire, to fires and short circuits.
WITHOUT DOCUMENT
Those who live in the favela do not have a zip code. Among nameless alleys and alleys, postmen get lost and mail never arrives. To make matters worse, residents cannot get proof of residence, a document needed to get a job, for example. As the housing is illegal, without a deed, residents are at risk of eviction all the time.
AND THE RAIN TOOK
With no ditches or gutters, rainwater has nowhere to run. When it rains, the water can puddle and become a nest for the Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that transmits dengue. Rainwater drags whatever is in the way, in addition to turning the dirt streets into mud
DARK AGE
Without public lighting poles, the population is unprotected from violence at night. After all, it makes it easier for thieves and drug dealers to disappear in the dark… All that’s left is the lighting coming from inside the residences
HEALTH ISSUE
As the shacks are glued to each other, sunlight does not enter. Humidity increases, full plate for fungus growth, which can cause illness. Not to mention the evils caused by the lack of basic sanitation, such as cholera, dysentery and schistosomiasis.
DEAD END
The population density is high – there are a lot of people per square meter. Without free space, there is no space for streets – at most, there are alleys and alleys. This prevents not only access for cars but also the entry of important services such as garbage trucks and ambulances.
ENTERING THE PIPE
Improvised, the houses are not connected to the water network or the city’s official sewage system. Residents find a way around this, making cats that steal water from neighboring houses or from the city hall itself, and dump the sewage in the open, the main environmental problem in the country, according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE)
*SOURCES – FOCUS ON FAVELAS URBANIZATION: EXPERIENCES FROM SIX CITIES; FAVELAS URBANIZATION – THE SÃO PAULO EXPERIENCE
Hey from home
Research* shows who are the residents of the favelas of SP
Gender
56% of household heads are men
Education
12% of heads of household completed the 3rd year of high school
3% have a higher education
Income
38% of residents earn between one and two minimum wages
4% declare income higher than five minimum wages
Used material
81% of houses are made of masonry
19% wood
Historic
40% of favelas started in the 1990s
3% in the 1950s
*SOURCES – FOCUS ON FAVELAS URBANIZATION: EXPERIENCES FROM SIX CITIES; FAVELAS URBANIZATION – THE SÃO PAULO EXPERIENCE
city restored
In addition to water and electricity networks, a leisure area and job creation give the region a new face.
THE SQUARE IS OURS
Families who lived on the edge of risk areas are also removed. To accommodate them, buildings are erected – horizontally, there is nowhere to grow. Squares are built on the slopes, fulfilling two functions: they improve the community’s quality of life, with sport and leisure, and prevent risk areas from being occupied by shacks again.
CLEAR
Cats give way to the official electrical power grid. The favela also gains public lighting poles, which, in addition to increasing the safety of those who pass by at night, help the night traffic of vehicles and beautify the new buildings and squares built with urbanization.
RAIN DESTINATION
Rainwater runs down ditches, grates and culverts, made of durable material with no commercial value, such as concrete. Materials such as copper or iron are rarely used – the metals have commercial value and could be stolen for resale in scrap metal and junkyards.
CHECKUP
Urbanization must also put an end to unhealthy housing – damp and without natural light. The wooden shacks, which are more fragile, are replaced by masonry constructions, which provide better protection from rain and wind. With the greater spacing between the houses, they gain windows, which already improves air circulation, humidity and light entry.
HOME SWEET HOME
The final stage of favela urbanization is land regularization. From an illegally occupied area subject to evictions, the favela becomes a legal neighborhood. In addition to a house to call their own, residents receive documents that prevent them from being expelled from their property.
FACTS
The streets gain permeable pavements – the spaces between the blocks allow water to pass through. The old alleys and alleys become wide streets, where ambulances and garbage trucks pass. The problem is that some houses can be removed to make room.
SAVED BY THE BARREL
To regularize the water supply, clandestine pipes are replaced by branches of the official water network. The sewage is channeled, avoiding the pollution of streams and rivers. According to the IBGE, infant mortality drops from 44.8 deaths per thousand children up to 5 years of age in homes without basic sanitation to 26.1 per thousand children with the measure
DINDIN BY DINDIN
Urbanization improves the quality of life, but brings a practical problem: how to pay the water and electricity bills, which used to be “free”? Favelas like Sacadura Cabral, in Santo André (SP), created social programs in the surroundings, to generate jobs and income for residents of the region
Consultancy – ALEX ABIKO, PROFESSOR OF CIVIL ENGINEERING AT USP’S POLYTECHNICAL SCHOOL; ANDERSON KAZUO, ARCHITECT OF THE POLIS INSTITUTE
slab census
In São Paulo alone, there are 1,573 favelas
In the world
1 billion people live in slums, according to a World Bank study
In Brazil
A survey by the Ministry of Cities states that 12.4 million Brazilians live in “precarious settlements”, which include favelas and tenements
In Sao Paulo
The city of São Paulo has 1,539,217 favela residents, in a total of 377,236 homes spread over 1,573 communities. In the capital of São Paulo, – 30,802 homes had already undergone urbanization projects, benefiting 125,401 residents
READ MORE
– What was the first favela in Brazil?
– What is the biggest slum in the world?