Bringing Business to Brazil’s Slums

Posted on October 12, 2010 by tudobeleza

An audio version is available on the link at the bottom.

“Brazil’s economy is growing at an astounding rate, and many expect the country to soon become an economic superpower. The recent success has even begun to spread into Rio de Janeiro’s notorious slums known as favelas. Some residents say movies like City of God or tours that highlight the poverty and drug trafficking in Brazil’s favelas don’t give the whole picture of what life is like here. Inside of Rocinha, one of the largest and most notorious favelas, the government estimates that there are now some 5,000 locally owned businesses.

“People think that there are only dirty and uneducated people here,” Eduardo Casaes, a lifelong resident of Rocinha who serves as a liaison between his community and the Rio government, told PRI’s The World. “But we have jobs, it’s really a middle class neighborhood. People go to work and children go to school here.”

The main problem with Rocinha and other favelas is their infrastructure, according to Casaes. Buildings are dilapidated and the streets are narrow and clogged with motorbikes and pedestrians.

Other people believe that Rocinha’s layout actually works to their advantage. Carlos Roberto de Azevedo, who owns two minimarkets in the favela, told The World, “There are a lot of opportunities for various types of businesses, because it’s a very concentrated area with many people walking around. There’s a lot of demand for different types of businesses.”

More and more companies are trying to get to consumers, according to Andrea Gouvea Viera, a city official working closely with the Rocinha community association. “But we still have a problem,” she says, “that’s the security, and we still have a problem with the trafficked drugs.” There are also problems with people illegally tapping into energy supplies, and tax evaders in an almost exclusively cash economy.

Local business people, however, dismiss these problems. Minimarket owner Carlos Roberto de Azevedo says the setbacks and reputation shouldn’t prevent outsiders from setting up shop. He points out that a Brazilian franchise restaurant opened up a while ago and it hasn’t had any problems. He says:

It will help the favela’s image if more businesses come here. Nothing bad has happened to the restaurant, it’s never been robbed. Companies and banks need to stop being afraid of opening businesses here. PRI’s “The World” is a one-hour, weekday radio news magazine offering a mix of news, features, interviews, and music from around the globe. “The World” is a co-production of the BBC World Service, PRI and WGBH Boston. – Source

Google Street View Labels Brazil a Landfill

Posted on September 30, 2010 by tudobeleza

So I gave Google Street View in Brazil a try today and retraced my old stomping grounds in Rio. I have to admit, it was pretty cool to click around Botafogo and see the streets I used to walk on everyday. The one thing I would change? Ok, so there’s two things. One is the glitches that happen when you click around and the screen alternates between Street View and a wider city view without you wanting to do that. The second thing, the fact that the places I “visited” in Rio where labeled a landfill (depósito de lixo or lixão in Portuguese). Click on the photo to amplify and see another example here. What I think happened was that the word “aterro” (land reclamation) as in Aterro do Flamengo (the land area on the bay from the airport to Botafogo) was translated instead of being left alone and then they applied that to all of Rio.

Resumo: Por algum motivo, o Google Street View diz que o Brasil é um “lixão” (landfill, em inglês). Bem, pelo menos no Rio de Janeiro.

Oh, and for those of you who want to see what their cameras caught people doing? There’s already a few sites for that!

Problems of Vision Create Division

Posted on August 29, 2010 by tudobeleza

(Complex with 1,176 apartments in Rio)

According to a story in O Globo today, no less than 121 construction sites have popped up in Rio recently, many of them, no doubt, set to be large complexes such as the one in the photo above. In effect, this is what Rio will look like in the somewhat near future. No, I’m not talking about the contrast we see here, but the upper half of the photo only (go ahead, feel free to use your hand to cover up the bottom half). Back when I lived in Rio, which feels like ages ago, in 2005-2006, I witnessed scenes like this all the time and from my obviously non-realtor point of view, I wondered, why is there such a contrast and not a compromise?

The answer lies somewhere between a Gabriel O Pensador song and an episode of Cidade dos Homens, although I forget which exactly. The rich delegate themselves to create their own ‘prisons’ (gated communities, etc) while the poor are relegated to ‘prisons’ made for them (favelas, etc). The rich are allowed to wear ankle-bracelets while the poor are seemingly sentenced to life in confinement. There’s a parallel with the idea of the Prisoner’s dilemma, an important element of game theory mathematics. Game theory led to the continued armament of both sides in the Cold War because neither side knew how many weapons the other had, so by both parties having more and more weapons, they created a deterrent. In this sense, a section of the poor (in the eyes of the rich) are armed with guns while the rich are armed with high walls, bulletproof cars, etc. In terms of the Prisoner’s dilemma, one could say that both sides are being philosophically interrogated by society at large. The only difference is when both defect (blame each other), the rich have a monopoly, as it were, on the ‘get out of jail free’ cards.

Will the beautiful panoramic views and sunsets no longer be seen by those who live on the hillsides and instead, by those that can afford it (in a high-rise apt. complex)? Will Rio become the next Brasília in terms of the poor living far away in satellite cities? Are more ‘prison’ walls the only forseeable solution to the growing problem, a problem of vision (de visão) that creates division (divisão)? It’s obvious that these questions are being addressed already, each side with its own answers, but when will the day come when they decide on them together? I’m tempted to say ‘only time will tell’ but it’s my personal belief that time does nothing, it’s what you do with that time that counts. The passage of time merely removes the matter of importance from the center of your mind’s attention. In the minds of the rich, I’m sure they are satisfied enough that they never really need to turn around to be reminded of the favelas. The favela residents, on the other hand, will be reminded of their exclusion no matter which way they face.

More Info

Prisoner’s dilemma
Rio’s Landscape & the Construction Boom – O Globo (in PT)
Realty Price In Rio Increase 76%
Hottest Properties in Brazil
Building Walls Doesn’t Mend Fences
Rio’s Beaches – Where the Sun Won’t Shine
Rio Na Cabeça – O Globo’s Guide to Public Works in Rio (in PT)

Fault Lines – Rio: Olympic City

Posted on August 24, 2010 by tudobeleza

Rock in Rio Returns

Posted on July 19, 2010 by tudobeleza

“Rock in Rio will return to Carioca soil after 10 years away from the place where it was born. In a meeting between Rio’s mayor, Eduardo Paes, and the event’s creator, Roberto Medina, the fourth edition of the Brazilian festival of pop music was agreed upon and will happen in September of 2011, in Jacarepaguá. The area, that is being readied, will also house the Athlete’s Park for the Olympics of 2016, also in Rio.

- The Athlete’s Park will be inaugurated together with Rock in Rio, which will happen next year. The area, between Riocentro and the Jacarepaguá Autodrome, is already being prepared for the event. The idea is that the place can receive other concerts, since another concert venue has been deemed a need of the city – said Eduardo Paes.

The last Carioca edition of the biggest music festival of the country happened in 2001, near Riocentro, in an area called Cidade do Rock. Since then, the land was abandoned. Rock in Rio already had other editions, only they took place (for some reason) in Lisbon and Madrid. On the 9th of August, Paes and Medina will meet again to divulge details of the event’s return.” – Oglobo (translation)

Realty Prices in Rio Increase by 76%

Posted on July 12, 2010 by tudobeleza

“The valuation of realty in Rio seems to test its own limits on a daily basis. In just six months, the average price for an four-bedroom apartment in Ipanema increased nothing less than 76%, to R$2.5 million. Smaller apartments and those in other neighborhoods also saw significant highs. A two-bedroom place in Flamengo had its average price increase by 44.8% between December of 2009 and this past June, to R$477 thousand, according to the Habitation Syndicate of Rio.

…..

Factors such as a hike in income, the expansion of housing credit, the growth of Rio itself, the larger sensation of safety under the Pacifying Police Units (UPPs) and the drying up of land plots in the Zona Sul explain the extremely heated scenario. A little extra help came from the choice as Rio for the Olympics in 2016, announced in October, without forgetting the World Cup of 2014.

- The expansion is occuring across the whole country, but perhaps a little more in Rio. I never saw so many connections from positive factors at the same time – affirms the president of the construction company Concal, José Conde Caldas.” – Source (more here, in PT)

Training Brazilians abroad

Posted on February 10, 2010 by tudobeleza

Just a video I found interesting. It’s from Deutsche Welle English.

“Brazil is building a steel plant due to go into operation next year (this was written in mid-2008). It’s being built by the concern Thyssen-Krupp and it’s also the biggest investment the company has made in its history.

When completed it will employ 3.500 people at Sepetiba Bay in the state of Rio de Janeiro. As part of the project Thyssen-Krupp has brought 150 Brazilians to Duisburg in Germany for training. It’s a big logistical operation that requires 70 interpreters to be on site around the clock as well as a 24 hour hotline where the Brazilians can vent their problems. Former student housing close to the plant in Duisburg also had to be renovated to accommodate them.”

Help Discoteca finally closes

Posted on January 7, 2010 by tudobeleza

“Help, the notorious night club in Copacabana, in the South side of Rio, that became legendary for catering to foreign tastes offering music, easy booze and plenty of women ready for sex for a price, tried a last delaying tactic to keep its doors open at least till Carnaval, in mid February, but this time it didn’t work.

Rio’s governor Sergio Cabral gave an ultimatum determining that the place should be empty by Saturday. The location will be used to build the new Museum of Image and Sound (MIS). Construction should last three years starting in 2010. Wednesday night ended up being the last time the place was open for business after an afternoon auction to sell Help’s belongings.

The process to close the night club started in January 2008. In November, an agreement between the Windsor Group, owner of the club and the state of Rio extended till the end of 2009 the deadline to close the place.” – Brazzil (more here)

Rio’s beaches – where the sun won’t shine

Posted on December 18, 2009 by tudobeleza

“Two city guards in crisp uniforms marched across the sands and ordered Javier and his friend to stop their game, a “keep-up” between several players that is much loved by Rio beach-goers.

“It’s ridiculous. No one’s here, it’s a public beach,”said Javier, wearing swimming trunks and gesturing at the near-empty section of beach on a recent afternoon.

No matter. Under rules aimed at bringing order to Rio’s famous beaches, ball games are among the undesirable activities being curtailed or banned as the city that will host a World Cup and Olympics within seven years seeks to clean up its act. But the shock of order policy is running into resistance on Rio’s sands, amid worries that it will kill the soul and spontaneity of beaches like Ipanema and Copacabana, which have been celebrated in many a samba and bossa nova song.” – Source (more here)

This is completely ridiculous. Rio’s problems are not with pick-up games on the sand, nor with barracas, nor with boom boxes. Next, Rio’s government will want to regulate how much sun shines on the beaches per day.

If you would like to see the Rio of the past, present and future, O Globo has a Multimedia show called Rio Na Cabeça.

Eyes On Brazil

Category Archives: Rio de Janeiro