Favela Rocinho

The discussion about Sydney’s laneways reminded me of another similarly scaled urban street oblivious to the urban planner; the streets of a favela.  In September 2010, I visited Favela Rocinho, the largest favela in Latin America with 250,000 documented people living within its borders.  Population estimates double when one includes undocumented births, unemployed adults, and drug gangs.  The favela is located on a steep hillside over Sao Conrado, an upper middle class neighborhood of high-rises in Rio de Janeiro. The backside stretches over the saddle of the mountain and down to the top portions of Leblon, probably Rio's most expensive neighborhood. The proximity of the favela with the high-rises is one of the first things I noticed. Employers in Brazil pay for transportation; therefore they have an incentive to hire people whose commute costs the least. Thus, the closer the favela is to the place of employment, the closer that resident is to their job and more hirable they are. It is a catch-22 in a way because many residents in the favelas make enough to support a family, enjoying amenities that mark somewhat of a middle class life, TVs and play stations, upholstered furniture sets, artwork, but if they lived elsewhere they would be in danger of losing their jobs. Thus they put up with the poor or lack of infrastructure for sewage, trash, running water, electricity, mail delivery, healthcare, police and fire service, schools etc... not to mention the lack of stable construction and property ownership. 

Favela Rocinho from above. Photo Jonathan Lee

Favela Rocinho, aerial detail.  Photo Jonathan Lee

My tour started at the top of the favela. On foot, six of us in the tour, entered and walked down one of the main “roads.” There are only about a half dozen “roads” within the favela.  They each follow the quickest, most direct path for water and waste.  The roads are the sewers and it is this image of the favela that usually turns people off.  However, as I will explain in this favela, this is not the case.  The average road is a little over a meter wide.  They are canyons, bordered by buildings, balanced one on top of the other like a puzzle, typically two-three stories high.  Roosters, chickens, and dogs scurry along the concrete, mud packed, and terracotta covered ground.  The locals even get lost navigating the alleys and roads, which is why the drug lords like to live in the favela. The police can't really enter and navigate through the favela in an organized way. Therefore, beginning in the 70's and 80's as the drug trade increased, drug lords started taking refuge in the favelas. The favela residents as we understood it don't want the drugs in the favela, but they don't have a choice as the drug lords have money, guns and power. They live in a kind of parasitic harmony with the drug lords using the favela as a hideout and the favela benefitting from the trickledown of money. It is a shame because the drugs really create a bad reputation and for most Brazilians favelas=drugs. From our perspective after the tour, the drugs are a side show and favelas= super tight communities of really resourceful people. People who could afford to move out do not because of the warm community aspect.

The favela is un-taxed land. The people living there are essentially squatters.  Rocinho has expanded to the point where there is nowhere to build, but up so it is getting more dense and more dangerous as people build homes on top of already poorly built structures of concrete, wood and in many cases found construction material.  It is an interesting phenomenon, this vertical densification, as the people living on the lower levels are able to charge rent to those that build on the higher levels.  Traditionally, those with the views living at higher elevations pay more, but in the favela sometimes this is reversed.

View of the main "road."  Photo Jonathan Lee

Within the favela the residents have established their own infrastructure to get water and electricity. The most desirable places to live are near the bottom of the favela because it is easier to access the city’s electricity and water.  The electric company, aware of resident’s guerilla tactics to “tap the grid” has figured out a way to run a meter for houses at the bottom. At the bottom you are also closer to mass transit and in many cases, the community where you work.  However, the bottom is also where all the trash and sewage piles up. And as I said because of the dimension of the “roads” and the fact that the land is untaxed there is no way for the government to supply trash pickup or sewer lines. There is a movement to start providing services and building schools and hospitals, but this means knocking down houses, relocating residents and coming to terms with the drug lords. At Rocinho there are plans to build a tram line, a police station, schools, and health clinics. Currently for the 250,000+ residents there is one health clinic and 4 schools. Most of the children are undocumented since they are not born in hospitals.   

View from the bottom.  Photo Jonathan Lee

The history of favelas in Brazil is long and complex.  Currently, with Rio de Janeiro gearing up to host the World Cup and Summer Olympics, the government is looking for solutions to solve the negative stigma of the favelas.  They have tried in the past with settlements like the City of God, to relocate favela residents and immerse them into a master planned community.  Existing favelas have developed their own networks of commerce, with bakeries and produce vendors, butchers, bars and video arcades.  These emergent businesses aren’t possible in the current models of government established housing tracts.  And of course, the biggest challenge for the government is finding locations close enough for the jobs.