{"id":22813,"date":"2015-06-26T09:00:39","date_gmt":"2015-06-26T12:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=22813"},"modified":"2015-08-27T11:21:51","modified_gmt":"2015-08-27T14:21:51","slug":"second-participatory-social-housing-meeting-in-port-area-received-with-tough-questions-from-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=22813","title":{"rendered":"Second Participatory Social Housing Meeting in Port Area Received With Tough Questions From Residents"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas\"PT\"<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

On Thursday June 18, the Port Urban Development Company (CDURP) of Rio de Janeiro hosted a second \u00a0public hearing\u00a0regarding a Participatory Housing Plan for the Port area<\/a>, following an\u00a0introductory meeting<\/a> on June 10.
\n
\n<\/a>The event brought together an audience of about 150 people and was initiated by CDURP president Alberto Gomes Silva who presented a summarized\u00a0version<\/a> of last week\u2019s diagnosis referring to a series of maps and tables developed by the municipal urban planning\u00a0and data analysis agency Instituto Pereira Passos (IPP) and the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute (IBGE), responsible for the national census.<\/p>\n

While pointing at a map comparing\u00a0demographic density in different neighborhoods of the Port Area\u00a0(map below), Silva stated that \u201cthe demographic density and the number\u00a0of people who live in this region in relation to its\u00a0size is small. It is therefore possible to bring more people to live here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Map<\/a>
Map showing population density of the Port area. The red lines represent the favelas, the blue lines represent apartment complexes and the purple lines delineate the Porto Maravilha project.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He presented\u00a0different income<\/a> groups (see below) saying that \u201cthe average income in the different areas of the Port zone varies between 0 and 5 minimum\u00a0wages,\u201d with the highest income group located in the southeast corner of the site, bordering Presidente Vargas\u00a0and\u00a0Rio Branco avenues. However, as shown by the land use map presented during the same session, this area is mainly a small commercial zone and the majority of residential zones in the port area find themselves in the lowest range, from 0 to 3 minimum wages.<\/p>\n

\"Map
Map showing distribution of different income groups in the port area,. The red lines represent the favelas, the blue lines represent apartment complexes and the purple lines delineate the Porto Maravilha project.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In response to a table by IBGE presented at the beginning of the meeting, stating that just about\u00a0half of the port area\u2019s population lives in rental accommodation, while most of the remaining percentage owns property, an inhabitant of Pedra Lisa explained that \u201cfor many years, the neighborhood has not seen any kind\u00a0of construction. Now that it finally does, we are very concerned. What is going to happen to us? We pay rent, everyone pays rent here, and there are barely any owners among us. Everything is going to become beautiful and exclusive, for the rich<\/a>. And at the same time, there is still no health clinic in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

This meeting, the second of its kind to decide on a participatory plan for social housing in the area, was less well received than the first.\u00a0This became noticeable when the speakers opened up to questions and comments from the audience, and\u00a0several critical points were\u00a0brought to light. Many inhabitants expressed concern regarding the growing pressure of having to leave the area, either directly, due to unexpected eviction<\/a> notices, or indirectly, through uncontrollable increases in rent, which, at a certain moment becomes unaffordable for the predominantly low-income families, leading to an expulsion to the distant periphery.<\/p>\n

Pedra Lisa\u00a0is the most vulnerable area within Morro da Provid\u00eancia,\u00a0economically and in terms of housing quality. The communities\u00a0were officially declared Areas of Special Social Interest (AEIS), intended for\u00a0the development of social interest housing programs for low-income families (with an income below six minimum wages).\u00a0Their land is regulated by a special legislation set up under\u00a0the initial decree for the Porto Maravilha\u00a0port redevelopment project.<\/p>\n

\"Panorama<\/p>\n

Orlando Santos Junior, urban planning professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), reveals that \u201cby law, the Urban Operation was created with the justification of producing Social Interest Housing and it is therefore absolutely crucial that these projects be\u00a0implemented as soon as possible.\u201d He also mentions the large number of occupied<\/a> \u201cempty public and private buildings\u201d in the port area, that could be used for social housing, as can be seen in some successful cases developed by the municipal program\u00a0Novas Alternativas<\/a>\u00a0(New Alternatives).<\/p>\n

He went on to say\u00a0that \u201cit is not just about building four walls. In addition to general data about the number of houses in the area presented today, more ‘day-to-day data’ should be collected and shared with the general public. We need clear information about land ownership in the area. The majority of existing households live in precarious conditions and it is fundamental to have access to information and know about the situation in order to develop adequate housing for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another professor mentioned a case from 2013 where only 1% of the entire Minha Casa Minha Vida<\/a> housing development program in Rio de Janeiro\u2019s Metropolitan Region, consisting of 73,000 units, was going to be built in the port area. \u201cThese 60 units are scattered all around the area. We need to be able to discuss public land, based on accurate data and information, to reduce this fragmented planning.\u201d<\/p>\n

The port area appears to be facing a never-ending struggle<\/a> in securing land rights<\/a> for its occupants, going all the way back to its\u00a0slave history<\/a> and the creation of urban quilombos<\/a>. Today, CDURP and City Hall seem to be moving towards a\u00a0long-awaited participatory plan for the area, which has been a legal requirement for the port area’s redevelopment from the start. The results of the process will be announced\u00a0after the series of six public meetings when, in August, the publicly consulted<\/a>\u00a0document will be presented to the Municipal Housing Secretariat (SMH).<\/p>\n

Remaining\u00a0meetings will be\u00a0held at CDURP headquarters on Rua Sacadura Cabral in the Port area on July 2, 9, and 30.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas On Thursday June 18, the Port Urban Development Company (CDURP) of Rio de Janeiro hosted a second \u00a0public hearing\u00a0regarding a Participatory Housing Plan for the Port area, following an\u00a0introductory meeting on […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":22814,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1668,1290,1333,329,1329],"tags":[1787,829,1669,1261,65,282,26,248,157,152,1714,148,146,144,210,10,158],"writer":[1662],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-22813","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-participationwatch","8":"category-civilsociety","9":"category-event-reports","10":"category-solutions","11":"category-by-international-observers","12":"tag-aeis-zeis","13":"tag-brazilian-institute-of-architects-iab","14":"tag-cdurp","15":"tag-central-rio","16":"tag-gentrification","17":"tag-housing","18":"tag-housing-rights","19":"tag-instituto-pereira-passos-ipp","20":"tag-minha-casa-minha-vida","21":"tag-participation","22":"tag-pedra-lisa","23":"tag-port-region","24":"tag-porto-maravilha","25":"tag-morro-da-providencia","26":"tag-public-housing","27":"tag-real-estate-speculation","28":"tag-smh","29":"writer-katja-majcen"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22813"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=22813"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=22813"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=22813"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=22813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}