{"id":23164,"date":"2015-08-12T11:00:44","date_gmt":"2015-08-12T14:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=23164"},"modified":"2016-04-01T08:31:16","modified_gmt":"2016-04-01T11:31:16","slug":"future-of-places-conference-public-life-in-the-favelas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=23164","title":{"rendered":"Future of Places Conference: Public Life in the Favelas"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the transcript\u00a0of a presentation given by Jessica Goodenough at the Future of Places<\/a> conference in Stockholm in June and July, 2015. The conference\u00a0gathered participants from all over the world, brought together by their passion for public spaces<\/a>\u00a0and placemaking<\/a>, and their desire to influence Habitat III<\/a> for a better urban future.\u00a0This presentation condenses Jessica’s\u00a0research on public spaces and public life in Rio de Janeiro\u2019s favelas<\/a>, which was conducted with\u00a0Catalytic Communities in 2014\u00a0during her pursuit of a\u00a0Master’s Degree in Sustainable Territorial Development.<\/em><\/p>\n

‘Favela’<\/em>\u00a0is the Brazilian name<\/a> for the informal<\/a> settlements that occur there.\u00a0They are the birth place of many things we associate with Brazil: samba<\/a> and football<\/a> players, for example.\u00a0My fieldwork focused on Provid\u00eancia<\/a>, the oldest favela in Rio de Janeiro, on Rocinha<\/a>, the densest informal settlement in the Americas, and Santa Marta<\/a>, the most touristic<\/a> favela in Rio (there\u2019s even a statue of Michael Jackson<\/a>). But I also experienced public life in other favelas during my time in Rio.<\/p>\n

Favelas: Placemaking before it was cool<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Favelas are never finished, constantly being built and rebuilt by their residents. And in the same way, the community that inhabits them traditionally managed\u00a0and designed\u00a0the public spaces there, often through the process of <\/span>mutir\u00e3o<\/a><\/em>, which is a great word that means group work with benefits for all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This <\/span>form of urbanism<\/a>, focused on people, and the density of favelas, means that favelas can be\u00a0very conducive to walking, <\/span>cycling<\/a> and, when it exists, public transportation. Public spaces are relatively small there and respect the <\/span>human scale<\/a>. They\u2019re not <\/span>planned around the car<\/a> or the separation of functions like some of our <\/span>failed cities<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Public life and a sense of community<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I feel that placemakers can learn a lot from favelas<\/a>:\u00a0there you can spot\u00a0a street named after three friends who passed away, lovely little squares,\u00a0a mirror in a bus shelter and a barbecue in an alley.\u00a0You can feel the sense of community in the public spaces of the favelas: young\u00a0children running around, many open doors and windows, people\u00a0seeing into one another’s\u00a0lives, and it\u2019s generally quite loud.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sadly, the public spaces in favelas also showcase the social problems that affect their communities.\u00a0Brazil received by far the largest number\u00a0of <\/span>slaves<\/a> during the Atlantic slave trade, and the consequences are still visible today through <\/span>racial inequality<\/a>\u00a0and <\/span>stigmas<\/a>.\u00a0The tensions I observed are also largely due to the two <\/span>mega-events<\/a>\u2014the <\/span>2014 FIFA World Cup and the <\/span>2016 Olympic Games\u2014which put the global spotlight on Rio de Janeiro.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ostentatious urbanism<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Towards the end of the 20th century, favelas went from being completely ignored by public authorities to having a few services provided, to being a place to showcase the arrival of the State<\/a>.\u00a0The modern, \u201cclean\u201d and cold aesthetic of state interventions contrasts with the informal, vernacular<\/a> and warm nature of what existed before. But more importantly, public resources are wasted on symbols\u00a0of top-down<\/a> urbanization, like\u00a0the cable car<\/a> stations\u00a0in some favelas.<\/p>\n

Cable car projects look great on the official propaganda<\/a>, but they cost millions while communities are asking for sanitation<\/a> first (sewage currently spills through the streets down the hills). In Provid\u00eancia, the public authorities destroyed a much-loved square<\/a> to build a cable car station that was not opened until 18 months<\/a> after construction was completed. Even since\u00a0the cable car was launched\u00a0in July 2014, it has\u00a0run only on a partial schedule<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Rio<\/a><\/p>\n

Militarization of public space<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In the same way, the \u201cPacifying\u201d Police Units (UPPs)<\/a>\u00a0are made to be very visible in the cityscape, like a constant threat.<\/p>\n

Police brutality<\/a> and racial discrimination<\/a> in the United States are all over the news. But between 2009 and 2013, the Brazilian police killed as many civilians<\/a> as the police in the US killed in 30 years. Many of those deaths occurred in the favelas; some of them are like battlefields<\/a>, even though the people actively involved in the drug trade<\/a> represent less than 1%<\/a> of favela residents.<\/p>\n

Residents and human rights activists say that the Pacifying Police Units are for tourists and investors to see. I didn\u2019t include the images of a ten-year-old killed by a stray bullet from police in April<\/a>\u00a0that went viral recently, but you get the idea: the police are very armed and present in the favelas.\u00a0It\u2019s a lose-lose situation: I have interviewed a few policemen and they are also scared for their lives, which makes them a bit jumpy with those big guns in their hands\u2026<\/p>\n

So, public spaces in the favelas went from being public de facto<\/em>\u2014as in, for the common use\u2014to public de jure<\/em>\u2014as in, controlled by public authorities. Conflicts are linked to the undemocratic nature of this transition.<\/p>\n

\"Policiais_ocupam_Complexo_do_Alemao\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Context-sensitive “aesthetic of care”<\/strong><\/h3>\n

But, you may ask, why should we care what happens in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro anyway?\u00a0Well this conference is called the Future of Places and estimates predict that by 2050\u00a0one third of humanity<\/a> will live in informal settlements, which will be approximately half of the world\u2019s urban population.\u00a0It is important to recognize and learn from the contribution of people who are less privileged, as they build our cities<\/a> just as much as politicians, planners, architects and engineers do.<\/p>\n

But, what should be done in Rio? Getting rid of the consolidation of elite power would be a good start, but other than that, it is important to be critical of mainstream media’s<\/a>\u00a0negative portrayal of favelas, as perception informs policy.<\/p>\n

I hope that one day relationships\u00a0can\u00a0be built between trustworthy public authorities and residents, which will allow cooperative and context-sensitive projects rather than top-down monstrosities.\u00a0There is a lot of potential for an aesthetic of care<\/a> in Rio\u2019s favelas, with projects that combine placemaking<\/a> with green infrastructure<\/a>, and are good for both people<\/a> and the\u00a0planet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hopefully, the international spotlight on Rio and its favelas in the lead-up to\u00a0the Olympics will be a time of outcry against the human rights violations, but also an opportunity for a change in the narrative of urbanization in informal settlements, from top-down to bottom-up.<\/p>\n

Jessica Goodenough conducted research on the qualities and challenges associated with the informality of public spaces in Rio\u2019s favelas in the context of her\u00a0ERASMUS MUNDUS\u00a0International Masters in Sustainable Territorial Development.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the transcript\u00a0of a presentation given by Jessica Goodenough at the Future of Places conference in Stockholm in June and July, 2015. The conference\u00a0gathered participants from all over the world, brought together by their […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":23183,"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":[1736,1271,452,1365,1329],"tags":[1361,150,359,512,1259,673,5,15,144,809,171,1008,12,66,453,30,167,365],"writer":[1182],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23164","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-1736","8":"category-favelaqualities","9":"category-rio20","10":"category-whats-a-favela-2","11":"category-by-international-observers","12":"tag-endfavelastigma","13":"tag-cable-car","14":"tag-informality","15":"tag-leisure","16":"tag-mega-events","17":"tag-misplaced-public-priorities","18":"tag-olympics","19":"tag-pacifying-police-unit","20":"tag-morro-da-providencia","21":"tag-public-security","22":"tag-public-space","23":"tag-right-to-the-city","24":"tag-rocinha","25":"tag-santa-marta","26":"tag-stigma","27":"tag-urban-violence","28":"tag-world-cup","29":"tag-zero-participation","30":"writer-jessica-goodenough"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23164","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\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23164"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=23164"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=23164"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=23164"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=23164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}