How has urban growth in Rio created challenges?

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  • Created by: 13mlilli
  • Created on: 24-03-18 17:32

Healthcare

  • 2013 → only 55% of Rio had a local family health clinic
  • Poor services for pregnant women and the elderly = fairly high IMR + low LE
  • West Zone was the worst
  • Solution: Santa Marta favela → medical staff took a health kit into people's homes + detected 20 different disease - treated them so IMR fallen + LE risen
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Education

  • Education in Brazil is compulsory for children aged 6-14 (too low)
  • Rio → only 1/2 of children continue education beyond 14
  • Many drop out - get involved with drug trafficking
  • Shortage of nearby schools; lack of money so children work; shortage of teachers; low pay for teachers; poorly-trained teachers
  • Solution: authorities encourage local ppl. to volunteer to help in school
  • Solution: poor families given school grants = able to pay school fees + keep decent enough lifestyle
  • Solution: money made available to pay for sports clubs + lessons in the Rocinha favela
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Water Supply

  • Around 12% of Rio's popn. didn't have access to running water
  • 37% of water lost through leaky pipes, fraud + illegal access
  • Other events have made te situation worse: 2015 drought around carnival time; Paribuna + Santa Branca resevoirs declared empty
  • Solution: 2016 Olympics made Rio put in lots of work to improve quality + quantity of water
  • Solution: 7 new treatment plants built between 1998 + 2014 + over 300km pipes laid
  • Solution: By 2014 → 95% of popn. had mains water supply
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Energy

  • Frequent blackouts in the whole city - electricity shortage
  • Growing popn. + Olympics = more demand
  • Many poor ppl. in favelas tap into the main supply = illegal + unsafe
  • Solution: Installing 60km of new power lines
  • Solution: Building new nuclear generator 
  • Solution: Developing new Simplício hydro-electric complex = increase Rio's electricity supply by 30% → costs US$ 2 billion
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Unemployment

  • Unemployment helps cause wide contrasts in wealth in Rio
  • Unemployment rates in favelas = 20%
  • Income of the poorest 50% of Rio = only 13% of total
  • Much employment is poorly paid, with irregular jobs in the informal sector (not taxed or monitored by government, no contracts)
  • 3.5 million workers in informal sector
  • Avg. income may be below £60/month
  • Solution: local government using education to reduce youth unemployment → eg. the Schools of Tomorrow programme aims to improve education for young ppl. in poor + violent areas
  • Solution: courses for adults who want to continue studies + free child care for teenage parents
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Crime

  • Favelas controlled by gangs → control drug trafficking
  • Frequent murders, kidnapping, carjacking + armed assault
  • Over 1000 ppl. killed during police-gang shoot-outs → both sides use heavy weaponary
  • Solution: 2013 → Pacify Police Units (UPPs) established to reclain favelas
  • Solution: Police taken control of Complexo do Alemão + 30 smaller favelas
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Construction

  • Lack of sewers + water supply in faveles esp.
  • Poor infrastructure + lack of proper roads
  • Houses constructed on steeper slopes of mountains = unstable + prone to landslides
  • Solution: Favela-Bairro Project → aims to improve favelas into proud neighbourhoods
  • Solution: Complexo de Alemão will have water access, drainage systems, lighting, streets + pavements widened, 2 new primary schools, technical college, library, healthcare + public services
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Services

  • In non-improved faveles, around 12% have no running water, over 30% have no electricity + around 50% have no sewage connections
  • Many use illegal electricity connections = dangerous
  • Sewers often open drains
  • Drinking water often obtained by tapping into a city water main; taps often at bottom of steep slopes = several trips/day
  • Solution: see energy card
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Favelas

  • 1000 favelas in the greater Rio area
  • Rocinha is the largest → popn. of over 75000, built on steep hillside overlooking wealthier areas of Copacabana + Ipanema
  • Many work in the wealthier areas = regular work = improvements are able to be carried out
  • Rocinha's solutions: 90% brick houses + electricity, running water + sewage systems; many houses w/TVs + fridges; own newspaper + radio station; retail facilities; schools, health facilities + private uni
  • Solution: Site + service schemes → give ppl. chnace to rent/buy land connected to city by transport links + with access to essentials → ppl. build own homes using money from low-interest loans (eg. Favela-Bairro Project)
  • Solution: Self-help schemes → ppl. given tools + training to improve their homes; low-interest loans can help + ppl. may be given legal ownership of land → local authority sometimes provides materials + other facilities (eg. schools) → £200 million payed by government
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Air Pollution

  • Estimated to have caused 5000 deaths/yr in Rio → Carbon monoxide, Nitrogen dioxide, cigarette smoke, miniscule metal particles
  • City often covered with brown smog → heavy traffic + congestion on roads = build-up of exhaust fumes; mist from Atlantic mixes w/exhaust fumes + pollutants from factories
  • Rio is most congested city in SA → increases stress + pollution levels, wastes time for commuters
  • Steep mountains = roads can only be built on coastal lowland; tunnels through mountains connect areas of city; no. of cars increased by 40% in last decade
  • Solution: Expansion of metro system under Guanabara Bay to South Zone + Barra da Tijuca
  • Solution: New toll roads into city centre
  • Solution: Coast roads made one-way during rush hours = better flow
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Water Pollution

  • Ships empty fuel tanks into the bay b/c no facilities to dispose of fuel properly
  • Over 200 tonnes/day of raw sewage put into the bay
  • Oil spills from the Petrobras oil refinery
  • Rivers polluted by runoff from open sewers in favelas
  • Over 50 tonnes/day of industrial waster enters bay
  • Guanabara Bay highly polluted = threat to wildlife
  • Commercial fishing decline by 90% in last 20 yrs
  • Ipanema + Copacaban beaches could become polluted = major effect on tourism
  • Diseases such as Cholera caused
  • Solution: Since 2004 → 12 new sewage works been built = US$ 68 million
  • Solution: Ships are fined for discharging fuel into the bay illegally
  • Solution: 5km new sewage pipes installed around badly polluted areas
  • Solution: Recycling nylon fishing nets to create carpets
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Waste Pollution

  • Worst waste problems are in the favelas
  • Steep slopes + lack of proper roads = difficult access for waste collection lorries
  • Most waste is dumped + pollutes water system = diseases (eg. cholera) + encourages rats
  • Solution: Power plant set up near Uni of Rio using biogas from rotting rubbish → consumes 30 tonnes/day of rubbish + produces electricity for 1000 homes
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The Favela-Bairro Project

  • Aims to improve QOL by turning favelas into respectable neighbourhoods 
  • Small self-help schemes + city-wide approach
  • $600 million already spent, mostly on public works in 168 favelas
  • Complexo de Alemão →  26000 given network of water supply, drainage systems + waste collection; public lighting + streets + pavements widened; 2 new primary school, technical college, library; healthcare + public services
  • Plans to secure hillsides to protect from landslides
  • Installation of cablecar system connects Complexo de Alemão to Ipanema (30000/day transported)
  • 2009 → police took control of Cidade de Deus = less crime reported + improvements in healthcare + legal/safe electricity
  • Scale + complexity of favelas make project challenging
  • Problems arisen with maintenance of newly buily infrastructure → residents don't have skills + resources to repair
  • Government still fights control of favelas with gangs
  • 1000 ppl die/year in police-gang shoot-outs
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