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  • [ June 20, 2025 ] Get to Know ‘Gaia Space’, A Network of Women Fighting for Environmental Justice and Obstetric Dignity in Greater Rio de Janeiro by Community Contributors
  • [ June 10, 2025 ] Groundbreaking Oral History Project—‘Favela Climate Memory’—Launches Final Exhibition, Fostering Emotional Connection Between Climate, Nature and Community [Video] *Highlight
  • [ June 7, 2025 ] ‘Being a Black Woman Running a Museum Means Facing the Past, Eye to Eye… It’s Reparation in Motion’: Sinara Rúbia’s Full Speech at Brazil’s 1st Seminar on Anti-Racist Museums *Highlight
  • [ June 5, 2025 ] ‘A Museology That Doesn’t Serve Life Serves No Purpose’: ‘Unconventional’ Favela Museums Lead First Seminar of Rio de Janeiro’s Social Museology Network *Highlight
  • [ June 2, 2025 ] A Product of the 2016 Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro the ‘Evictions Museum’ Unveils New Walking Tour, Reigniting Vila Autódromo’s History and Resistance [IMAGES] #EvictionsWatch
HomeWritersEzra Spira-Cohen

Writer: Ezra Spira-Cohen

#HousingWatch

A Bridge Too Far? Land Titling For What? Debates on Favelas in Rio Speak Very Different Languages

By Ezra Spira-Cohen • September 24, 2018

Clique aqui para Português Two events held on Tuesday, September 18 demonstrated an enormous divide between groups working on issues related to favelas and favela residents in Rio de Janeiro. Both events had more than […]

#EvictionsWatch

Temer’s Land Regularization Law, One Year On: Assessing the Impact on Favelas

By Ezra Spira-Cohen • August 17, 2018

Clique aqui para Português In July 2017, federal lawmakers transformed the controversial Provisional Measure 759 into Law 13.465—known as the Land Regularization Law—approving measures that streamline the process of land regularization in urban and rural areas. […]

RioOnWatch’s anti-racist reporting series won silver in the 2022 inaugural The Anthem Awards, in the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion category among Best Local Awareness Programs.
A Project of

About

In May 2010, Catalytic Communities launched what was originally Rio Olympics Neighborhood Watch (hence RioOnWatch), a program to bring visibility to favela community voices in the lead-up to the 2016 Rio Olympics. This news site, RioOnWatch.org, grew into a much-needed and unique reference featuring favela perspectives on the urban transformation of Rio. With diverse and deeply interlinked articles by a mix of community reporters, resident opinions, solidarity reporters, international observers, and academic researchers, we work to engender a more accurate picture of favelas, their contributions to the city, and the potential of favela-led community development in Rio and around the world.

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Awards

Special Thanks

Fundação Heinrich Böll Brasil
World Habitat
Fideicomiso de la Tierra Caño Martín Peña
Pastoral de Favelas
Center for CLT Innovation
Global Land Alliance
Ecocity Builders
Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation
SDSU Behner Stiefel Center
The Rio Times
Forum Grita Baixada
Beto Paixão Graphic Design
Architecture Museum of Vienna
Yale School of Architecture

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    • Sanitation
  • Violations
    • Human Rights
    • Housing Rights
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    • Government Neglect
  • Organizing
    • Community Organizing
    • Community Solution
    • Resistance
    • Sustainability
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    • Protest
    • Culture
    • Responsible Tourism
  • Content Map
    • by Community Contributors
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    • Series
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    • Event Reports
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    • Research & Analysis
    • Book Reviews
    • Film Reviews
    • Listicles
    • Opinion
    • Reference
    • Podcasts
    • Translated Articles
  • About
    • Timeline
    • Our Reporting Policy
    • License
    • Feedback
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