{"id":71990,"date":"2022-09-27T10:20:01","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T13:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=71990"},"modified":"2023-05-23T09:23:37","modified_gmt":"2023-05-23T12:23:37","slug":"six-years-after-agreement-city-of-rio-begins-construction-of-vila-autodromos-community-spaces-images","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=71990","title":{"rendered":"Six Years After Rio Olympics, City Begins Construction of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo\u2019s Community Spaces [IMAGES]"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Luiz<\/a>
Luiz Cl\u00e1udio Silva, resident and representative from the Evictions Museum, looking at the works identification sign at the entrance of the community. Photo: Alexandre Cerqueira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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

Since July 2022, the City of Rio de Janeiro has finally resumed the second stage of its project to upgrade Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/a>, a community that was originally a favela located in the city’s West Zone known for its heroic resistance against evictions<\/a> associated with the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. Roughly 700 families were evicted<\/a>\u2014having had their properties seized during the years leading up to the Olympics. At the time, the City, under Mayor Eduardo Paes<\/a>, signed an agreement with the 20 families<\/a> who were able to resist eviction until the end, that they would be resettled in homes built by the City on the same land by July 29, 2016, the date that reflected the start of the Olympic Games. It was also promised<\/a> that works to develop community public spaces would begin 60 days after the end of the Paralympics, on September 18 of that year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, six years after upgrading plans were made official, workers from the Municipal Upgrading Company (Rio-Urbe<\/a>) have broken ground on construction of the cultural center, children’s playground, and multi-sports court in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo. The delivery of these projects is yet another victory in the tireless struggle<\/a> of the residents who resisted to remain in their territory and have been fighting to this day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Site manager from the Municipal Upgrading Company shows the plan for the children’s playground. Photo: Alexandre Cerqueira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Luiz Cl\u00e1udio Silva, one of the residents who fought and still lives in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo, explains the origins of the agreement<\/a> established on April 13, 2016 to rebuild the community torn apart by the traumatic forced eviction: \u201cWhen these houses were delivered, a collective contract was drafted and the Public Defenders’ Office<\/a> added the physical improvement works [to be made], because they are public spaces [we had that were] destroyed<\/a> through injunctions. They took away our residents\u2019 association<\/a>\u2014which was also a cultural center\u2014the playground<\/a> and the sports court<\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Location where the children’s playground will be built at the end of Rua Vila Aut\u00f3dromo. Photo: Alexandre Cerqueira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Maria da Penha Macena<\/a> argues that the residents who remained decided not to take the compensation payments offered by the municipality so that community spaces could be built: “When they got rid of our [residents\u2019] association, an technician came, made some calculations and offered compensation, but the residents didn’t want it. The residents left in the community, these 20 families, made the decision that instead of receiving this compensation, the city would build the residents\u2019 association. At the time, it was about R$650,000 (US$126,500) and we never got that money. The second stage of construction works which are being finished now, were approved through the courts. [But according to] the extrajudicial contract, the right thing would have been [to deliver the building] two months after the Paralympics.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Workers from the Municipal Public Works and Services Company (EMOP) prepare the ground to pour concrete. Photo: Alexandre Cerqueira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe Paralympics ended on September 22, 2016. According to the contract signed by the city, the Public Defenders’ Office and us, the residents, they were supposed to have started these works six years ago. The project should have been delivered in eight months [early 2017]. [In terms of] the current works, they said it would last five months, but now they\u2019re talking about eight,\u201d explains Silva.<\/span><\/p>\n

He goes on to explain that the Public Defenders\u2019 Office would appeal, the city would counter-appeal, until now when the administration “is only doing it because there\u2019s nothing left to appeal. Coincidentally, or not, with the return of Eduardo Paes as mayor [for his third term, starting in 2021], the courts made the final decision that he has to do it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Silva adds that: “When he was mayor before, Paes didn’t deliver. Crivella came in and didn’t care about us either. The Public Defenders\u2019 Office made demands on behalf of the residents but they wouldn\u2019t even answer us. We didn’t get a single meeting with Crivella. Then Paes becomes mayor again, continues the tug-of-war, and doesn’t keep his promise. Now he\u2019s only complying because of the lawsuit.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Luiz Cl\u00e1udio Silva visits the construction site daily, to record and follow progress. Photo: Alexandre Cerqueira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a similar vein, Silva expresses how the construction of these spaces will finally benefit Vila Aut\u00f3dromo. According to him, these benefits will be felt in two ways: through the access to leisure and by preserving the community\u2019s memory: “The court was a 12x24m multi-sports court; what they call a community center in their project we, residents, call a cultural center. It will function as a residents\u2019 association and cultural center and will be part of the Evictions Museum<\/a>. We will finally have a space for our museum. Just yesterday we had a group here from PUC-Bras\u00edlia and we had nowhere to exhibit our collection. Now we will have this space to serve the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Location where Vila Aut\u00f3dromo’s cultural center will be built. Photo: Alexandre Cerqueira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An employee of Municipal Upgrading Company, Luis Felipe, 22, has been working on the construction project. He shares what he thinks about the work he has been doing: “I want to say that moving forward the construction will look good, everything is going to plan and will only improve. Then the children will come to play, there will be a court out front, great stuff. The kids need soccer to distract their minds, to have something other than a cell phone. Nowadays everything is on a cell phone, so, with the court, the swings and other equipment, they\u2019ll come out and play. And that\u2019s it, the construction is underway and from now on it will only get better. We start at 7am and finish at 5pm [every day] until next year.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Rio-Urbe employees take measurements to align the sidewalk construction. Photo: Alexandre Cerqueira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Macena highlights the lack of dialogue with the city and the absence of residents from the process\u2014a common problem<\/a> between governments and Rio\u2019s favelas: “They don’t come looking for us. I remember that we approached them while they were measuring [spaces in the community], if I’m not mistaken in 2019, while Crivella was still mayor. We went up to this group of people from the municipality and they said the work would be finished. Then they disappeared and never came back, they disappeared and appealed again. At the beginning of June, they came with a group of people to look at the spaces and Luiz went to talk to them. The authorities send a group but then they go back and don’t talk to anyone. They look, they leave and decide what they\u2019re going to do [without listening to us], which is wrong. It should be [something that is] built together: [by] residents and government officials.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Rio-Urbe workers spread soil to prepare the ground for the concrete to be laid. Photo: Alexandre Cerqueira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This vertical pattern of decision-making and court battles are reflected by the municipality\u2019s dissatisfaction with residents bringing the Public Defenders\u2019 Office<\/a> to the table. Maria da Penha highlights: “We asked for a meeting with the Public Defenders\u2019 Office, but they [the City] didn’t like it because they hadn’t brought their legal team along and we were there with our lawyer [from the Public Defenders\u2019 Office]. This is how I see things: if we\u2019ve had a public defender supporting us from the very beginning of this struggle, then everything that happens in relation to the construction work involving the City requires the attendance of the defenders so they can give us assistance, to strengthen us, and so that they can know what is happening. And it\u2019s also nice that the Public Defenders’ Office now sends people to follow up and verify that the work is really happening.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Rio-Urbe employees take a short break from work. Photo: Alexandre Cerqueira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Silva says that even after the work is finished, the agreement with the City will not yet be entirely fulfilled since the houses still don\u2019t have the \u201cHabite-se<\/a>\u201d\u2014a building\u2019s certificate of occupancy\u2014and individual documentation for each of the 20 houses.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Silva asks the site manager questions about the project. Photo: Alexandre Cerqueira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe occupied these houses without the Habite-se. They keep saying they\u2019re ready, but they never reach our hands. These are individual documents. The permit we have is collective. We will have to fight harder,\u201d says Silva.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Site where Vila Aut\u00f3dromo’s cultural center will be built. Photo: Alexandre Cerqueira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Macena summarizes the thoughts of the community: \u201cWe think that\u2026 the mayor is doing this\u2026 because deep down he is being forced by the justice system to comply with an agreement from six years ago.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sign describing the construction works that are being carried out in the Vila Aut\u00f3dromo community. Photo: Alexandre Cerqueira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

During the pre-Olympic process of fighting for the right to housing and to remain, at least seven key elements characterized Vila Aut\u00f3dromo and dozens of favelas’ resistance:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Unity in residents’ commitment to remain in their territories<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Access to information<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Legal defense<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Diverse and resolute leadership<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Broad support networks ranging from peer communities to technical partners<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Creative responses such as the People’s Plan and the Evictions Museum<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Ongoing documentation and visibility<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Documenting the delayed start of construction works in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo is part of the community’s resistance strategy. This article is thus the first in a two-part series, as the completion of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo’s community spaces will also be recorded. Residents of Vila Aut\u00f3dromo have shown us: we must keep the memory of this struggle alive!<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a>
    Silva monitors the progress of the construction works at Vila Aut\u00f3dromo on a daily basis. Photo: Alexandre Cerqueira<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
    \n

    Support\u00a0RioOnWatch\u2019s tireless, critical and cutting-edge hyperlocal journalism, online community organizing meetings, and direct support to favelas\u00a0by clicking here<\/a>.<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas Since July 2022, the City of Rio de Janeiro has finally resumed the second stage of its project to upgrade Vila Aut\u00f3dromo, a community that was originally a favela located in […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":236,"featured_media":72024,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1293,2663,2315,1668,1736,1288,1332],"tags":[272,2032,11,26,1033,2225,5,572,69,2413,529,1402,3030,4,21],"writer":[3173],"translator":[3510],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[3476],"class_list":{"0":"post-71990","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-evictionswatch","8":"category-interventionwatch","9":"category-legacywatch","10":"category-participationwatch","11":"category-1736","12":"category-highlight","13":"category-photo-essays","14":"tag-mayor-eduardo-paes","15":"tag-evictions-museum","16":"tag-forced-evictions","17":"tag-housing-rights","18":"tag-land-rights","19":"tag-marcelo-crivella","20":"tag-olympics","21":"tag-photography","22":"tag-public-defenders","23":"tag-public-defenders-housing-nucleus-nuth","24":"tag-public-works","25":"tag-legacy","26":"tag-sense-of-belonging","27":"tag-vila-autodromo","28":"tag-west-zone","29":"writer-alexandre-cerqueira","30":"translator-isaac-goodwin","31":"photographer-alexandre-cerqueira"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71990","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\/236"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=71990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/72024"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=71990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=71990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=71990"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=71990"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=71990"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=71990"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=71990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}