{"id":23509,"date":"2015-08-05T08:45:06","date_gmt":"2015-08-05T11:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=23509"},"modified":"2015-08-15T13:55:42","modified_gmt":"2015-08-15T16:55:42","slug":"one-year-to-go-to-the-olympics-roundup-evictions-gentrification-public-security-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=23509","title":{"rendered":"One Year to Go to the Olympics Roundup: Evictions, Gentrification, Public Security & Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Since winning the Olympic bid in 2009 and hosting the 2014 World Cup, the city of Rio de Janeiro has gone through immense urban transformations that have disrupted and changed the lives of its\u00a0millions\u00a0of residents. With one year to go to the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games,\u00a0RioOnWatch<\/em>\u00a0offers this summary of what you need to know\u00a0about the preparations for the global event and how it has affected\u00a0residents across Rio de Janeiro.<\/p>\n

Forced Evictions<\/h3>\n

\"Conflict<\/p>\n

The topic of forced evictions<\/a>\u00a0is a frequent\u00a0one when it comes to building infrastructure for global sporting events, and Rio de Janeiro has seen some of the highest rates of forced evictions associated with any mega-event. Most striking, however,\u00a0Rio’s\u00a0pre-Olympic period saw the largest number of evictions and displacements in the City’s history: according to the book\u00a0SMH 2016: Removals in Olympic Rio de Janeiro<\/em><\/a> by architect Lucas Faulhaber and journalist Lena Azevedo, more than 67,000 people were\u00a0evicted just from 2009 to 2013\u2013this is more than were evicted under both Pereira Passos and Lacerda administrations (those most notable for evictions in Rio\u2019s history) put together. In an interview<\/a> with\u00a0Brasil de Fato<\/em>, translated and published by <\/a>RioOnWatch<\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>Faulhaber argues that the Olympics are not the real reason for the evictions but that the sporting event is being used to legitimize them, as well to press ahead\u00a0with the timeline. Mandates for public consultation have been ignored due to the perceived urgency of ‘preparing the city for the Games.’<\/p>\n

One of the\u00a0most dramatic forced evictions stories is that of\u00a0Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/a>, a community that has been standing for more than 40 years and which neighbors the future Olympic Park. Titles were provided to residents nearly two decades ago by the state government, but\u00a0the Mayor\u00a0claims these were a sham and that it must be removed for Olympic works even though the approved Olympic design maintained the community<\/a> in place. It is widely held among close followers of the case, rather, that the community was used as currency to convince developers to carry out\u00a0Olympic works, knowing the Olympic Park and surrounding areas<\/a> will be repurposed for luxury developments after the Games.<\/p>\n

Always a safe community, with a large number of residents who chose the community for its tranquility,\u00a0Vila Aut\u00f3dromo is now a mixture of half-demolished houses and homes populated by residents who are still resisting the City’s negotiation tactics. After a long process of negotiation made possible thanks to the community’s legendary resistance–that has included treacherous divide and conquer tactics<\/a>–over\u00a0590 of the 760 properties<\/a> in the community have now been vacated. Although many people who were displaced received compensation<\/a> or were moved to public housing<\/a>, the destruction of a valuable community is\u00a0being mourned<\/a> by families who are still resisting<\/a>,\u00a0insisting that the Mayor’s promise<\/a> that those who desired to stay would be permitted to do so, must be upheld.<\/p>\n

Although Vila Aut\u00f3dromo has been central in the discussion of forced evictions, dozens of communities have suffered<\/a> with Olympic and World Cup works\u00a0and the opportunity for reconfiguring the city\u00a0that has come with these mega-events. About one kilometer away from the Olympic Park,\u00a0Vila Uni\u00e3o de Curicica<\/a>\u00a0was first told it would receive investments and upgrades, then told all residents would be removed into Minha Casa Minha Vida<\/a> public housing for the construction of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)<\/a>\u00a0system. In April of this year, the first demolitions took place<\/a> without any communication or justification from authorities.\u00a0Writing for\u00a0RioOnWatch\u00a0<\/em>in May of 2014, Stefan Johnson\u00a0concluded<\/a> that the BRT “has led to the eviction and displacement<\/a> of entire communities, including Largo do Campinho<\/a>, Vila Harmonia<\/a>, Restinga<\/a> and Vila Recreio II<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

As\u00a0we approach the Games,\u00a0RioOnWatch<\/em>\u00a0noticed a worrying trend of lightning evictions<\/a>\u2013forced evictions<\/a>\u00a0with little or no warning and tenuous court approval\u2013when several communities across Rio saw violent scenes of people being dragged out of their homes\u00a0to see them demolished.<\/p>\n

Other communities that suffered forced evictions not mentioned above and covered by RioOnWatch<\/em>:<\/p>\n