{"id":30795,"date":"2016-07-22T09:00:12","date_gmt":"2016-07-22T12:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=30795"},"modified":"2016-07-22T13:15:24","modified_gmt":"2016-07-22T16:15:24","slug":"olympic-projects-and-destruction-ramos-left-without-public-spaces-sidewalks-trees-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=30795","title":{"rendered":"Olympic Projects and Destruction: Ramos Left Without Public Spaces, Sidewalks, Trees and More"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The TransCarioca Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line<\/a>\u2013an Olympic Project inaugurated two years ago\u2013has\u00a0left a trail of destruction and abandonment in the traditional neighborhood of Ramos in the Leopoldina Zone<\/a>\u00a0in the North Zone<\/a> of Rio \u00a0de Janeiro. The construction of this new bus transit corridor, considered essential for receiving the tourists arriving at the international airport\u00a0for the 2014 World Cup<\/a> and 2016 Olympics<\/a>, ended up ignoring the Simplified Environmental Report to ensure the last minute completion of the project<\/a>. Now, residents are left wondering, \u201cOlympics for who?<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

Environmental impact<\/h3>\n
\"Trees<\/a>
Trees cut down for the BRT<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Ramos<\/a> region is one of the most affected by the urban heat island<\/a> that overwhelms Rio\u2019s North Zone and has suffered a great loss of vegetation coverage\u00a0in its streets.<\/p>\n

The few public squares\u00a0that still had\u00a0trees prior to\u00a0the \u201cOlympic Legacy<\/a>\u201d projects had even been\u00a0diagnosed as insufficient by the municipal government itself, in its Simplified Environmental Report for the BRT TransCarioca<\/a>, Lot 2:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe squares, according to data from the IPP (Pereira Passos Institute for urban planning), are the most common type of public space in the studied neighborhoods, where\u00a0the population can find children\u2019s playgrounds and athletic courts, as well as a place for social gatherings. The absence of parks in all of the studied neighborhoods, and the absence of gardens in Ramos, Olaria and Penha\u2013densely populated neighborhoods\u2013reveals to us that\u00a0squares\u00a0are the spaces provided by the state for social interaction. However, these are shown to be\u00a0insufficient in quantity considering the local need.\u201d<\/p>\n

– Municipal Works Secretariat General Coordination of Works 5th Works Administration<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Residential<\/a>
Residential streets, previously lined with trees, turned into hot ovens radiating heat from the non-sidewalked street. In the upper-right corner, a sign indicates a speed limit of 20 km\/h, due to the possibility of children on the BRT thoroughfare.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But the Rio city government paid no attention to this part of the report and instead, with\u00a0the BRT<\/a> route, eliminated the few sporting and recreation areas<\/a> in the region. The City\u00a0destroyed four neighborhoods squares<\/a>,\u00a0leaving an entire region of the Olympic City with no options for green, sporting and recreational spaces<\/a>, contrary to everything that a modern Olympics should provide for a host city.<\/p>\n

Unfinished works<\/h3>\n

In addition to the insufficient number\u00a0of green spaces and sporting and recreational areas in the region, another item in the Simplified Environmental Report for the BRT TransCarioca did not gain the necessary attention and was not contemplated\u00a0by the conclusion of the works:<\/p>\n

\u201cRedevelopment of the area directly impacted by the project, with improvements to roads, new signage and a more modern lighting system, in addition to the creation of new green spaces and recreational areas.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"A<\/a>
A road parallel to the BRT hasn’t been paved.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In reality, the streets around the BRT never received improvements, and in some cases, were simply abandoned. The mobility of the region was compromised<\/a> by the project and reconstruction simply ignored<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Footbridge<\/a>
Footbridge left half finished after the inauguration of the BRT TransCarioca.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With two weeks left until the Olympics, this situation continues and the residents of Ramos see themselves very far<\/a> from the promised Rio Olympic Legacy<\/a> of the so-called\u00a0\u201cOlympic City.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"<\/a>
Comparison of the implementation of the BRT TransCarioca in (wealthy) Barra, above, and in (working class) Ramos, below. Comparing the Olympic Legacy in terms of: 1. Pedestrian Bridges 2. Improvements in Surrounding Area \u00a03. Environmental Respect.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vanio Korrea, a Ramos resident for 40 years, makes clear his indignation:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole Leopoldina Zone was treated like nothing but a thoroughfare\u00a0between the international airport\u00a0and Barra da Tijuca in the Olympic projects. It was always overlooked\u00a0for state and municipal investments and when finally the City invests in the region, it doesn\u2019t improve the quality of life of neighborhood residents. To the contrary, it makes it worse.<\/p>\n

We already didn\u2019t have many public recreational areas<\/a> and the few we had were destroyed. Nothing was replaced or compensated. A neighborhood like Ramos, with a huge residential area like ours, should include a large recreational area, but now we don\u2019t even have small squares, and the children risk death by playing in the lanes for the BRT. The planned cultural projects for the restoration of the old cinemas, closed since the 1980s, aren\u2019t advancing, and they aren\u2019t being repurposed as educational or cultural centers. Accessibility is another concern that goes far beyond Olaria and Ramos and the other neighborhoods of the Leopoldina Zone. Like the neighborhoods cut through by the railway, we need ramps and pedestrian bridges. But the opposite happened; we lost another pedestrian bridge.<\/p>\n

It is incoherent that the Mayor alleges that the (overpass)\u00a0Perimetral Highway<\/a>\u00a0made the city ugly, but he built another overpass in a residential neighborhood for the BRT to pass. We have the clear impression that we are just that: a place for the BRT to pass through, as if we didn\u2019t live here with the same rights to access recreation, sports and culture as the rest of the city! Even leaving our region to visit other parts of the city was made more difficult with the cuts to the bus lines<\/a>: we gained a so-called project for mobility<\/a> and we lost it at the same time! We want the right to the city<\/a> and citizenship.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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

The Mayor has no clothes<\/h3>\n

As if based on Hans Christian Andersen\u2019s classic story, Mayor Eduardo Paes<\/a> and the City government make announcements<\/a>\u00a0of things that no one is able to see<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cI can say that this project is a sort of declaration of love to Rio de Janeiro. Its suburbs went through\u00a0more than 49 years of high-level neglect. When we deliver\u00a0the TransCarioca, we aren\u2019t just talking about mobility, but also the restoration of\u00a0Rio’s suburban neighborhoods, which are the soul of the city. The BRT will allow Rio to rediscover its true identity.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Paes emphasized\u00a0that the implementation<\/a> would be gradual and would bring benefits to the local population. \u201cA degraded, inaccessible area of the city was transformed into a place where mobility is totally facilitated. It wasn\u2019t just installing BRT stations. It was installing sewers, paving sidewalks, creating squares\u00a0and recreational areas,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith a span of 39km and 47 stations, the TransCarioca passes through 27 neighborhoods that gained, as a consequence of the project, a true transformation. New sidewalks and paving, restructured drainage systems, improvements in lighting, pedestrian bridges and new stoplights were some of the changes\u00a0in neigborhoods like Vicente de Carvalho, Vaz Lobo, Madureira, Campinho, Jacarepagu\u00e1, Penha and Ramos\u201d \u2013 Olympic City website<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But the declarations on the street, everyone can see:<\/p>\n

\"\u201cSome<\/a>
\u201cSome have comfort, others have the BRT,” says a message on Rua Emilio Zaluar, where people have to walk in the street or in the BRT lanes for lack of sidewalks.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hugo Costa is 41 years old. He is a graduate in Geography of the Fluminense Federal University (UFF), an aspiring blogger and a resident of the Ramos neighborhood.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas The TransCarioca Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line\u2013an Olympic Project inaugurated two years ago\u2013has\u00a0left a trail of destruction and abandonment in the traditional neighborhood of Ramos in the Leopoldina Zone\u00a0in the North […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":30803,"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":[1736,1288,1328,452,1869,328,336],"tags":[606,272,474,182,473,755,327,2138,673,37,5,171,409,2137,1402,81,200,206],"writer":[2136],"translator":[1659],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-30795","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-1736","8":"category-highlight","9":"category-by-community-contributors","10":"category-rio20","11":"category-transit","12":"category-understanding-rio","13":"category-violations","14":"tag-brt","15":"tag-mayor-eduardo-paes","16":"tag-environment","17":"tag-government-neglect","18":"tag-heat-island","19":"tag-infrastructure","20":"tag-legacy-myth","21":"tag-leopoldina","22":"tag-misplaced-public-priorities","23":"tag-north-zone","24":"tag-olympics","25":"tag-public-space","26":"tag-public-transportation","27":"tag-ramos","28":"tag-legacy","29":"tag-transcarioca","30":"tag-transportation","31":"tag-upgrading","32":"writer-hugo-costa","33":"translator-christopher-owens"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30795","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\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30795"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30795\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30795"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30795"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30795"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=30795"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=30795"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=30795"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=30795"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}