Rio is hiding poor people?!
The 2016 Olympics are set to begin in just over a month in Rio de Janeiro.
As the city prepares to receive an influx of international visitors,
it is building new infrastructure and transportation systems to accommodate the surge.
But the city is also undergoing another major project:
hiding and removing poor people from view of foreign onlookers.
When you leave the International Airport of Rio de Janeiro,
and head towards the south of the city,
which is where all the beaches are, you pass a sprawling informal settlement called Maré. It's one of hundreds of neglected shanty towns like this in Rio. It goes on for miles!
But when you pass by there today, all you see is this wall! Look at this map of Rio: Here's the part that you probably know. It's the South Zone it's where all the iconic beaches are.
Maré is in Rio's North Zone which is where most of the city's poor live.
This acoustic barrier, according to them, was to block sound!!
But it's very clear, that the only purpose of this wall,
is so that people who leave the airport to the south zone,
don't catch a glimpse of the Reality of this city!
Douglas - Resident, Maré
They don't have sewage systems, they don't have housing rights,
they don't have anything!
But you know, the city is really concerned about how loud the cars are!!
Because they're worried about, you know the ears of the poor people, that don't have food in their stomachs !!
The city just install the big new school in this community, a few months ago. You'll note that, when we get to this part of the highway. The wall becomes totally transparent,
giving us a perfect view of the shiny new school!!
Every time international attention comes to Rio,
the city scrambles to build up infrastructure around tourism,
for visitors to see that it's this amazing city!!
* Pan American Games 2007
* UN Earth Summit 2012
* World Cup 2014
* Olympic Games 2016
The problem is the visitors will come and they go, but the people of Rio are here to stay, and they're frustrated that their governments spends so much money to build up certain parts of the city,
and completely neglects others!!
The Olympics is no different in this case.
In fact, it's probably the biggest excuse Rio has to pour tons of money, into making the city look good?!
This is Patricia. She rides the buses here in Rio,
and has noticed a major change in the bus routes recently!
There used to be a line that went from Ramos,
which is in the north zone to Cosme Velho,
which is where we have the Christ.
And this line was extinguished!!
Patricia is showing us a few examples of the 11 bus lines,
that were cut between the poor North zone and the touristy rich South zone,
all in preparation for the Olympics. It's now much harder for a resident of the North Zone,
to get down to the beaches of Ipanema or Copacabana.
So why put the bus lines?
If all of these black people, poor people, barefoot people are there..
It's like ... NO
We have to clean this!
And, they always wanted to clean?!
But now, they have a purpose! They have a deadline to do that.
If Discriminatory bus lines are bad, here's where it gets worse!
So back to this map:
out here in the west is a place called Barra (Baha),
R's are pronounced like H in Portuguese.
This is a new part of the city, where a lot of the Olympics action is happening.
It's where the Olympic park is going to be built.
And because of this, it's home to what one real estate publication is calling a
Cosmopolitan Awakening, (um despertar cosmopolita)
Tons of real estate investment! And of course, a bunch of dramatic promotional videos to go with it. There's this one guy named Carlos Carvalho.
He's a real estate developer, and owns 64 million square feet in Barra.
Last year in a series of interviews with big publications,
Carvalho sketched out his dream for Barra. His goal is to turn this place into a "new Rio",
a city for the < Elite ... of good taste > ,
Noble housing not housing for The poor.
This guy's that 12 richest person in Brazil,
and he's got a ton of political influence to make his dream happen.
Here he is with Rios Mayor who's reelection campaign he generously donated to.
They're just, you know, looking over plans
for how they're going to reshape Barra! But there's one big problem for people like Carlos Carvalho,
and his dream to make Barra a heaven for the rich.
If you're interested in land value,
the less poor people you who have in your land the greater value can give to it.
They think of the city as a place for you
to invest and not a place to live in.
Over the years, little settlements of a few hundred
families have popped up in Barra. It's usually workers unable to find affordable housing,
and creating communities of their own.
These places have been around for decades,
and many of them have gained legal status for their property.
But to the luxury-minded developers of this new part of town, these informal settlements represent a barrier to their plan.
So when the Olympic park was planned for this area of Rio. It wasn't much of a surprise,
when the city came in with eminent domain eviction orders,
telling these communities,
that they would be moved to public housing complexes,
usually far out of sight of any international visitors.
Most communities left,
some happily taking the money that the city gave them, some mounted intense but failed resistance.
But we visited one community that didn't give up,
on the fight to keep their homes.
When they announced that the Olympics would be here,
in Rio de Janeiro,
we knew our problems were going to get worse.
Maria da Penha - Resident Vila Autódromo
Vila Autódromo was a community of around 600 families,
near where the Olympic park is being built. It's not on the actual park property,
but it's in the sight of the park. This is what it looks like today!!
Theresa Williamson - Urban planner :
People choose to go there, because there was no drug trafficking or militia.
It was very safe, very good sense of community, new jobs, new schools ... It's hard to know that, when you just visit the community.
But you kind of get a sense of that, by seeing the people who are still resisting, because they're holding on to that memory,
and they want to keep some of that alive.
After years of fighting with the city hall, only 20 families of the original six hundred remain in this community. Fierce protesting in a flurry of international press
got the mayor to finally concede, saying that the twenty families could stay,
on condition that the city would build them nicer-looking homes,
lest, heaven forbid, the international community catch a glimpse of the real Rio.
We had fruit trees that fed us, which we planned ourselves.
And now, we will have to plan them all over again.
Every corner of every house was constructed with care,
the trees, the plants ...
Luiz Claudio Silva - Resident Vila Autódromo
Orlando Santos Jr. - Professor of Urban planning,
at Rio de Janeiro Federal University :
Why couldn't Vila Autódromo remain adjacent to the park?
Is it some urban planning reason?
No, there's none.
It's because of economic interest,
which are tied to real estate valuation.
There's no other reason !
Even though I mentally prepared,
and I know that my house would be demolished soon,
for me, that was the worst part of the whole process !
Maria da Penha - Resident Vila Autódromo
Through the long fight, some of Vila Autódromo was able to stay.
But this is rare ?!
Most communities that receive eviction orders no longer exists.
At least 77.200 people have been removed from their homes,
in Rio de Janeiro since 2009.
That's according to government data ?!
And much of this, to make way for infrastructure and real estate projects, associated with the World Cup and the Olympic Games.
Theresa Williamson - Urban planner :
So it's kind of a shame, because the Olympics end up coming in,
and kind of whitewashing areas and reframing them.
And, you know, you lose a lot of the personality of the city.
Of course, there have been numerous benefits to the people of Rio ?! Thanks to the Olympics investments :
New bus lines, revitalization of all parts of the city, museums, parks ...
This stuff will make life better in the city for sure.
But in the end Billions of public dollars that were supposed to benefit the people,
ended up bowing to the interests of a few people with a lot of money. And instead of investing in the underserved,
Rio will once again hide them from view ?!
@ Johnny Harris
The 2016 Olympics are set to begin in just over a month in Rio de Janeiro.
As the city prepares to receive an influx of international visitors,
it is building new infrastructure and transportation systems to accommodate the surge.
But the city is also undergoing another major project:
hiding and removing poor people from view of foreign onlookers.
and head towards the south of the city,
which is where all the beaches are, you pass a sprawling informal settlement called Maré. It's one of hundreds of neglected shanty towns like this in Rio. It goes on for miles!
But when you pass by there today, all you see is this wall! Look at this map of Rio: Here's the part that you probably know. It's the South Zone it's where all the iconic beaches are.
Maré is in Rio's North Zone which is where most of the city's poor live.
This acoustic barrier, according to them, was to block sound!!
But it's very clear, that the only purpose of this wall,
is so that people who leave the airport to the south zone,
don't catch a glimpse of the Reality of this city!
Douglas - Resident, Maré
They don't have sewage systems, they don't have housing rights,
they don't have anything!
But you know, the city is really concerned about how loud the cars are!!
Because they're worried about, you know the ears of the poor people, that don't have food in their stomachs !!
The city just install the big new school in this community, a few months ago. You'll note that, when we get to this part of the highway. The wall becomes totally transparent,
giving us a perfect view of the shiny new school!!
Every time international attention comes to Rio,
the city scrambles to build up infrastructure around tourism,
for visitors to see that it's this amazing city!!
* Pan American Games 2007
* UN Earth Summit 2012
* World Cup 2014
* Olympic Games 2016
The problem is the visitors will come and they go, but the people of Rio are here to stay, and they're frustrated that their governments spends so much money to build up certain parts of the city,
and completely neglects others!!
The Olympics is no different in this case.
In fact, it's probably the biggest excuse Rio has to pour tons of money, into making the city look good?!
This is Patricia. She rides the buses here in Rio,
and has noticed a major change in the bus routes recently!
There used to be a line that went from Ramos,
which is in the north zone to Cosme Velho,
which is where we have the Christ.
And this line was extinguished!!
Patricia is showing us a few examples of the 11 bus lines,
that were cut between the poor North zone and the touristy rich South zone,
all in preparation for the Olympics. It's now much harder for a resident of the North Zone,
to get down to the beaches of Ipanema or Copacabana.
So why put the bus lines?
If all of these black people, poor people, barefoot people are there..
It's like ... NO
We have to clean this!
And, they always wanted to clean?!
But now, they have a purpose! They have a deadline to do that.
If Discriminatory bus lines are bad, here's where it gets worse!
So back to this map:
out here in the west is a place called Barra (Baha),
R's are pronounced like H in Portuguese.
This is a new part of the city, where a lot of the Olympics action is happening.
It's where the Olympic park is going to be built.
And because of this, it's home to what one real estate publication is calling a
Cosmopolitan Awakening, (um despertar cosmopolita)
Tons of real estate investment! And of course, a bunch of dramatic promotional videos to go with it. There's this one guy named Carlos Carvalho.
He's a real estate developer, and owns 64 million square feet in Barra.
Last year in a series of interviews with big publications,
Carvalho sketched out his dream for Barra. His goal is to turn this place into a "new Rio",
a city for the < Elite ... of good taste > ,
Noble housing not housing for The poor.
This guy's that 12 richest person in Brazil,
and he's got a ton of political influence to make his dream happen.
Here he is with Rios Mayor who's reelection campaign he generously donated to.
They're just, you know, looking over plans
for how they're going to reshape Barra! But there's one big problem for people like Carlos Carvalho,
and his dream to make Barra a heaven for the rich.
If you're interested in land value,
the less poor people you who have in your land the greater value can give to it.
They think of the city as a place for you
to invest and not a place to live in.
Over the years, little settlements of a few hundred
families have popped up in Barra. It's usually workers unable to find affordable housing,
and creating communities of their own.
These places have been around for decades,
and many of them have gained legal status for their property.
But to the luxury-minded developers of this new part of town, these informal settlements represent a barrier to their plan.
So when the Olympic park was planned for this area of Rio. It wasn't much of a surprise,
when the city came in with eminent domain eviction orders,
telling these communities,
that they would be moved to public housing complexes,
usually far out of sight of any international visitors.
Most communities left,
some happily taking the money that the city gave them, some mounted intense but failed resistance.
But we visited one community that didn't give up,
on the fight to keep their homes.
When they announced that the Olympics would be here,
in Rio de Janeiro,
we knew our problems were going to get worse.
Maria da Penha - Resident Vila Autódromo
Vila Autódromo was a community of around 600 families,
near where the Olympic park is being built. It's not on the actual park property,
but it's in the sight of the park. This is what it looks like today!!
Theresa Williamson - Urban planner :
People choose to go there, because there was no drug trafficking or militia.
It was very safe, very good sense of community, new jobs, new schools ... It's hard to know that, when you just visit the community.
But you kind of get a sense of that, by seeing the people who are still resisting, because they're holding on to that memory,
and they want to keep some of that alive.
After years of fighting with the city hall, only 20 families of the original six hundred remain in this community. Fierce protesting in a flurry of international press
got the mayor to finally concede, saying that the twenty families could stay,
on condition that the city would build them nicer-looking homes,
lest, heaven forbid, the international community catch a glimpse of the real Rio.
We had fruit trees that fed us, which we planned ourselves.
And now, we will have to plan them all over again.
Every corner of every house was constructed with care,
the trees, the plants ...
Luiz Claudio Silva - Resident Vila Autódromo
Orlando Santos Jr. - Professor of Urban planning,
at Rio de Janeiro Federal University :
Why couldn't Vila Autódromo remain adjacent to the park?
Is it some urban planning reason?
No, there's none.
It's because of economic interest,
which are tied to real estate valuation.
There's no other reason !
Even though I mentally prepared,
and I know that my house would be demolished soon,
for me, that was the worst part of the whole process !
Maria da Penha - Resident Vila Autódromo
Through the long fight, some of Vila Autódromo was able to stay.
But this is rare ?!
Most communities that receive eviction orders no longer exists.
At least 77.200 people have been removed from their homes,
in Rio de Janeiro since 2009.
That's according to government data ?!
And much of this, to make way for infrastructure and real estate projects, associated with the World Cup and the Olympic Games.
Theresa Williamson - Urban planner :
So it's kind of a shame, because the Olympics end up coming in,
and kind of whitewashing areas and reframing them.
And, you know, you lose a lot of the personality of the city.
Of course, there have been numerous benefits to the people of Rio ?! Thanks to the Olympics investments :
New bus lines, revitalization of all parts of the city, museums, parks ...
This stuff will make life better in the city for sure.
But in the end Billions of public dollars that were supposed to benefit the people,
ended up bowing to the interests of a few people with a lot of money. And instead of investing in the underserved,
Rio will once again hide them from view ?!
@ Johnny Harris
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