Building Walls Around Favelas
By Philip Sever, Contributing Reporter
Dona Marta Favela, photo by Philip Sever.
RIO DE JANEIRO – Government officials announced on Tuesday that construction of a wall has already begun around the favela of Dona Marta (also known as Santa Marta) in Botafogo. This is the first of many walls planned for Rio’s favelas, with seven miles of wall to be built around at least 11 of Rio’s favelas this year alone. Icaro Moreno, president of the state’s public works department, explained that this was to stop deforestation of the Atlantic rain forest which surrounds Rio.
Construction of the wall began a few weeks ago and so far 100 meters of wall has been constructed. “Each year that passes we’re losing more of the Atlantic rain forest,” Moreno said, “now, we’re setting limits on where these communities can expand.” Brazil’s national institute of space research states that deforestation of Rios Atlantic rain forest has doubled over the last three years. This has occurred as Rio’s favelas have continued to grow.
Up to 600 homes will be destroyed during the walls construction. Moreno stated that new government housing within the favela will be provided for those left homeless during the wall constructions across Rio.
Human rights groups claim that the walls have been built to keep residents of the favela segregated from the rest of Rio society. Drawing comparisons with the Israeli West bank barrier separating Palestine from Israel. Moreno rejected such criticism claiming that the aim of wall construction was to reduce deforestation not to segregate favela residents. However Moreno also claimed that by the end of next year, 40 favelas will have walls.
Urbanization of Santa Marta, photo by Philip Sever.
Dona Marta has become an example of how a favela can become safe. Dona Marta is the first favela to have (legal) electricity, water on tap, internet and most notably the first drug free favela in Rio. Less than 10 years ago Dona Marta was considered to be one of the most dangerous favelas in Rio equal to Rocinha and Vidigal. However things have changed to such an extent that Dona Marta is now considered an example of a safe favela.
In 2008 a new nursery was built for the children of Dona Marta, reform of the existing nursery was completed. A new football pitch with astro turf was built. New sewer, water and drainage systems were implemented and 146 homes had refurbishments completed. It is planned by the end of this year another 191 new homes will be built and 517 homes will have improvements made upon them.
13 Responses for “Building Walls Around Favelas”
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“Human rights groups claim that the walls have been built to keep residents of the favela segregated from the rest of Rio society.” Oh let’s not be naive and buy into any other word in this piece except for this one paragraph, people. Mata altantica, my rear end. It’s all about money, tourism, making Rio look good – rich get richer, push the poor aside. I am happy they are doing good social work like with Dona Marta but BUILDING WALLS AROUND FAVELAS? That’s like imprisonment, people – I mean, okay, some people may be reading this from their walled-in luxury condos with seguranças in porteiros but I see a tad bit of disparity there – do you?
people just dont get it..if they pay people decent wage favelas would not exist..
as long as the middle classes and rich pay “their” help poor wages, favelas will always exist.
walls another way to socialy exclude the poor..
Zezinho
Rocinha is my home and I do not want to see wall around it!
I don’t agree that walls should be built around these places… I think favelas should be removed… Completely removed! And the forest should be replanted. All the people (unemployed ppl) from all the other brazilian regions should be sent back to their original homes, because they are unemployed living in such places.
There are lots of places in Rio where houses, decent ones, could be build… So all these ppl should be transferred to any other place, with everything that’s necessary to live as a real human being: schools, water, eletricity, health care system as nursery stations and emergency hospitals, means of transportation, squares, and places to practice sports. There are lots of places, spaces where these condos could be built , like in Barra da Tijuca, for example, or Recreio… But we know it’s impossible… They can’t transfer all these ppl, and its too expensive to develop a community where people will have everything that is necessary to live happy and healthy… So… let’s build some walls, why not??? it’s cheaper!
They don’t realize how stupid that is?? A wall??? ridiculous.
I see two points being addressed here, The wall is a feeble solution for a much bigger problem, and there are several points that must be considered.
Firstly, I have been out of Rio for a very long while and my existence at the moment is far from one of a closed doors condo, but honestly that is irrelevant because I am a citizen in this beautiful city.
I can notice that most of the forest IS being destroyed by the favelas and this must be contained somehow. If it is not contained by the conscience and notions of citizenship from these same favela inhabitants, wich insist in cutting down the forest, dropping their litter everywhere and making noise till late, someone has got to do it. I know sometimes they do not have better choices, but I also know that if wanted they could be much better citizens.
Yes, a wall does not seem that good, but honestly loads of people in Rio have been living behind walls and somehow afraid of walking around for a while due to the violence generated by the uncontrolled growth of this city and the idea that things should be acquired by any means possible. Again if they are rich, good for them, and that is irrelevant here they are also citizens.
Secondly, It does annoy me a lot that these favela citizens are not in proper housing. As Loyana has sugested and so clearly pointed out, that is how it should be, proper popular housing with schools and all. And I do not think it is such an impossible task, the problem is nobody has though about it that much it seems. I really would like to see a Rio without favelas, a Rio where favelas do not need to exist.
We should also stop and think, all of us have rights and also duties, some of the intelectual cast in Rio, think favelas are cool because they represent a kind of popular resitance, the poor people, poor them! They it say while looking towards the favela from their privileged windows, with the speech from privileged classes, hence perpetuating a cycle somehow, with the idea that becasue they are poor they can not help themselves, that they need only charity, and that they also do not have ANY responsability for their lives, neither their enviromment .
Have they ever lived in one? Have they ever, had a glimpse of what is not knowing if they are going to eat or not? I do not think so. And in other hand, have some pepople in the favelas realized that the battle of classes leads nowhere? And also that two wrongs do not make one right? That there are lessons to be learned from the rich too?
What I am suggesting here is that a bridge in communications has to be built and crossed for any real solution for the favelas to be found.
Also in other to minimize the whole problem, people should be encouraged to stay in their communities in the NE of this country, the cheap labour hired from these regions, for the big companies fof the civil construction industry should be discouraged and maybe punished. They hire them for after, to live these once workers in Rio to fend for themselves. The federal government do nothing, No one does anything. Meanwhile the social segregation which comes from BOTH parts, (the people from the favelas and the rest) should be stopped. This segregation is economical but mostly cultural and it seems to me it is has been growing in these years I have been out of town.
Finally, you wuold not clean this mess calling some people rich and others favelados, or community members as they are called nowadays. Everyone has the right of a place in the sun, abd the duty to keep this place, wherever they come from, they are just people, and we are ALL citizens!
[...] real purpose is to fence the poor in. Some critics are comparing the favela walls to the walls Israel has built to confine the Palestinians. The Olympics are advertised as agents for peace, understanding and [...]
No one seems to be addressing the fact that Favela dwellers who destroy the Mata Atlantica to build dwellings, are taking land that does not belong to them! If land ownership rights were enforced in Brazil, it could solve the problem of the ever expanding Favelas, If squatters cannot be stopped by legal means, then walling off Favelas seems like the best solution. I’m suprised at the liberal reaction of some readers to the walling off of the Favelas, But I suppose liberals, who claim to be environmentally conscious, will forget those ideals when it comes to advancing their socialist agenda.
Kris,
Your argument is WAY less convincing than Vania’s. I Do agree with you about the importance of enforcing property rights, but Brazilian law does in fact legitimize squatters. If you don’t like the law, then work to change it.
Brazilians erect many barriers to the economic activities which might legitimately have a chance of lifting the poor from their poverty, but don’t fool yourself that it’s the so-called liberals that are the only problem. The poor are kept that way by pressure from BOTH ENDS of the political spectrum. “liberals” cultivate the poor’s dependency on state largesse, but “conservatives” undermine the poor’s ability to command higher wages by maintaining a “status-quo” pool of unemployed to drive wage demands downward. I would submit to you that a “rising tide lifts all boats” approach would be far preferable to
either the “socialist” or “fascist” prescriptions, and I bet you’d agree.
I don’t purport to have all the answers. Brazil appears to be somewhat on the ascendancy, as it has a “commodity-based” economy. My own country’s economy seems bent on outsourcing itself to “everywhere but here”. As is the case with Russia, India, and China, Brazil’s single most formidable obstacle to progress is not promiscuity or poor zoning enforcement, but rather endemic, PERVASIVE CORRUPTION, as well as a rather disturbing tendency to resort to an activist “command-economy” model which would have been better “left for dead” back in the days of Brazil’s so-called Cruzado Plan of the mid-80’s.
People who blame poor people for Brazil’s problems are basically putting the cart before the horse.
So while I agree with much of what you say, it’s as though you’re only mentioning one half of the villains.
: )
YES! I love this idea. I own a home in Rio and I am sick and tired of the favela invading my property. I pay property taxes. Not only are the residents of the favela invading national forests, they are dumping their garbage and sewage onto the public and private land. I would love to see the favelas torn down and the residents relocated to properties that are abandoned in downtown area. Let’s see a program that provides property rights and property taxes for existing decaying urban neighborhoods.
I am sickened by the bleeding hearts that are saying that the poor are being victimized. I AM BEING VICTIMIZED BY THEM! WHAT ABOUT MY RIGHTS?
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I Will have to come back again when my class load lets up – however I am taking your RSS feed so I can read your site offline. Thanks.
[...] DE JANEIRO – For one year the project to build walls around the favelas of Rio has been underway, yet many continue to question what exactly is the government’s [...]