Towards the Integration of the "Morro" to the "Asfalto":

A Personal and Historical Journey through the Favelas

of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Ella Lazarte

Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Professor Anna Hardman

Memoirs of My Favela Field Work in Rio de Janeiro

In my fieldwork in Rio de Janeiro from 2001-2003 which entailed interviewing micro-entrepreneurs and later, community leaders and residents, I learned about the challenges of microentrepreneurs in areas dominated by drug traffic gangs in Complexo da Maré, the community development priorities of Santa Marta, the struggle for urban and social services by Tabajaras/Vila Rica/Cabritos, and the hopeful situation in Cidade de Deus/City of God (which was negatively and pessimistically portrayed in the internationally-acclaimed movie City of God released in 2003). The stories and field notes in each of these communities can constitute several chapters of a book. But first, what I would like to do is provide a context for the research I have done and will do in the future on favelas and answer several questions which could help people who seek to influence or change policy towards the social inclusion and integration of favela residents into the formal city:

First: Who lives there? What do they hope for the future and what are their priorities?

Second: What is a favela and what are its origins? Knowing the origins, history and past policies can shed some light as to why there is such a distrust of government within many favelas that I have visited as well as provide hope for the integration of "morros" and the "asfaltos".

Introduction

While Brazil ranks as one of the largest economies in the world in terms of GDP size of US$452 billion, it also ranks high in terms of inequality with a Gini coefficient of .6, higher than that of South Africa. A country of 178 million people, Brazil occupies a vast area of land in the South American continent. Like most developing countries, however, many people moved from rural to urban centers – with 81% of the population living in urban areas. In large metropolitan areas, this percentage is even higher, reaching 96% in the State of Rio de Janeiro. This high percentage of urbanization, however, along with lack of a coherent national housing policy targeting the lower income segments of the population, led to the development of informal settlements, known as favelas, in the central and peripheral areas of Rio de Janeiro.

Favela – the Brazilian Portuguese word for lands occupied by invasions. With only 3.5% of the total Brazil population living in "favelas" (approximately 6 million people), it is almost hard to believe that 20% of them are concentrated in state of Rio de Janeiro.[1] In this Cidade Maravilhosa ("Wonderful City", as many Brazilians refer to it), favela has come to be associated with drugs, violence, poverty, precarious living conditions with inadequate water and sanitation infrastructure characterized by open sewers. Even if many favelas have slowly been 'urbanized' in the last few decades -- replete with water and sanitation services and paved roads -- the socio-economic difference between the world of favelas and asfalto (literally means "asphalt" and is a word used to describe middle to upper-income neighborhoods) has been a long-standing problem in many large Brazilian cities, especially in Rio where these two worlds coalesce together spatially. Many of these dense informal housing settlements prominently and permanently perched on the beautiful hillsides and mountain ranges are located right in the middle of wealthy areas such as in the world-famous beach districts of Copacabana and Ipanema. This location combined with continued violence, social unrest and exclusion have led many policymakers, private actors and civil society leaders to introduce projects, programs and policies with the aim of improving the lives of favela residents.

Part I: Socio-Economic Profile and Community Development Priorities

This section briefly discusses the results of research project conducted by the author on socio-economic profile and community development priorities of favela residents. Accurate data on favelas have been very difficult to find (not only due to the informality of the settlements but also the high expenses required to conduct a census survey reflective of each community). While official Census data reveals a population of around 1 million people in the favelas, neighborhood census surveys show very divergent results. For example, while the Census 2000 reports show that Complexo da Maré has about 60,000 residents, the Censo Maré survey found the number of residents to be over twice this figure, 138,000.[2] Thus, typical of data in other countries on informal settlements, the figures tend to be underestimated. The data I present, however, comes from a special census survey undertaken by the Municipal Labor Secretariat in the late 1990s and attemtps to paint a more accurate portrait of people who reside in these low-income communities.

This section begins with a quick glance at some socio-economic data and then launches on to provide a brief summary of the data gathered from over 20 interviews conducted with local leaders and residents in the community of Santa Marta in Spring of 2003. While the findings outlined here are incomplete, they reveal preferences which coincide with the socio-economic data available on low-income communities as well as speak to the current public policy trends in the city (as we shall see in the next section).

Socio-Economic Data: Age, Education, and Income


In the census data available on 52 communities included in the 1997-1999 study called Pesquisa Socio-Econômica das Comunidades de Baixa Renda (PSECBR), the population living in these low-income communities tend to be concentrated in the age range below 20 years old. (Figure 1 below)

In terms of educationa attainment, much of the population, no more than 20% of the population finished 7th grade or above, with only 8% who completed 1-3 years of high school. Though some residents went on to obtain a college degree, the percentage, on the aggregate, is very low (less than 1%). (Figure 2 below)


Given the education levels shown in Figure 2 above, it is not so surprising then that the income levels tend to concentrate at 1-2 minimum salaries per month, which is equivalent to around $60-120 dollars[3]. One must note, though, that although almost 50% of the population earn up to 3 minimum salaries, there is a sizeable population earning between 3-10 times the minimum salary, indicating the presence of a middle-class segment within these low-income communities. This suggests that the favela population is far from homogenous, although "favelas" are often associated with poverty (as we shall see in the second part of this paper). This finding is consistent with the literature on favelas (See Perlman, 1976 and 2003), which discusses their heterogeneiety.

Figure 3


If we look at the figure below on Employment Activity by Sector, we can see more clearly which occupational sectors that favela residents occupy. In examining the Figure 4 below, we can then explain the trend in income levels pointed out earlier: the service sector tends to have the lowest-paid jobs available and 57% of the residents in the 52 favelas work in the service sector. This could explain the prevalence of 2-3 minimum salary-wage earners as shown in Figure 3 above.

Figure 4

Housing Data: Residency, Home Ownership and Household Assets

Another useful indicator is the length of residence in a community, which shows us how old or young are these low-income communities. The surprising piece of information here is not that around 55% of the residents have lived in their communities for over 10 years (since many favelas have been around for decades, as we shall discover in the next section), but that around 12% have only been residing there for three years or less.

Figure 5

Moreover, an overwhelming proportion of residents, 87%, own their own homes (this does not include owning the title, however) and only 8% of the people rent. Thus, one can say that housing can be considered an asset for some favela residents. The issue today is the verticalization of favelas and the increase in the number of floors that a house has. This allows owners to rent a floor or room in their apartment, so perhaps, the 8% rental-occupied housing underestimates the real number of renters in favelas. I have anecdotal evidence that shows the increase in population of one particular favela by constructing rooms or a house in the patio area or the top area of a house and renting or selling the space to newcomers from the peripheral parts of Rio (Baixada Fluminense). In terms of durable consumer goods, however, the favela residents have acquired the basics, such as a refrigerator, radio and colored television. Thus, while a majority of the population live in low incomes, they have been able to buy these goods partly because of the Brazilian installment system which allows consumers to pay for a product they buy in various installments.

Figures 6 (left) and 7 (right)

So, while the incomes and education level of the people who live in favelas are lower than the residents of the formal city, their socio-economic situation do not seem so dire in terms of home ownership and household assets.[4] In Perlman's sample of 750 people in her 1968-69 research on poverty in favelas, she found that "only 64% of families owned a TV, 58% refrigerators, and 25% stereos". [5] The data I presented above, thus, show dramatic improvements in terms of ownership of domestic appliances/assets.

Missing from the socio-economic survey data I obtained was racial composition. While this paper does not focus on race and social inequality, it is important to mention it because most of the poor people in Rio are of Afro-Brazilian descent. According to Perlman (as well as from conversations and observations in the field), an overwhelming majority of blacks live in favelas, but not all residents of favelas are blacks. In her restudy of the original sample of residents in several favelas back in 1968-69, both the original and the restudy sample population comprised of 21 percent black, 30 percent mulatto, and 49 percent white.[6]

Now that we know a little bit about the favela residents, the next question we ask is: What are their community development priorities?

The Voices of Favela Residents

Sports and Recreation, Culture

"A recreational Area for children" (Senhor YY, Sports Leader)

“The dream is to have a space where we can have all types of activities, not just sports but also events, music classes, etc..we have all these ideas…" (Senhor YYY, Sports Leader)

Economic Development/Work Opportunities

“We need more projects that give people the skills to earn money…to have a decent work to earn a living…" (Dona XX, Seamstress)

Unity/Solidarity

"We need to be more united” (Dona XXX, Senhor YYYY)

Direct Government Action and Presence:

“Tanto o governo quanto a prefeitura colaboram na area de assistência social e não na ação social que vai realmento resolver os problemas do presente e do passado”

assistência social: “…como se fosse um remedio, methiolate (?) ou uma cesta basica” (Pastor)

“A Prefeitura não dá valor à comunidade…Pedimos Favela Bairro, não fez…Cesar Maia não adianta, nem o asesor dele” (Frango/Associação)

“A presença do Estados e Município aqui é muito importante” (Seu Beto)

“A gente sabe que não vão fazer nada, prometem mundos e fundos…a gente tem que correr atrás, não ficar dependendo no Cesar Maia”

Urbanization/Favela Bairro

“With urbanization comes everything – water, electricity, sewerage. Urbanization must be in first place because health depends on urbanization. Up the hill, you see open sewers, that's why people are angry" (Dona X, Health Worker)

"The government was going to start Favela Bairro here but the project began and stopped. Why? Because of lack of political will." (Senhor Y, Sports and Recreation Leader)

Discussion: Given the socio-economic data above, it is not so surprising that the residents want more and better work opportunities and more space and recreational options for children. The incomes are generally low in favelas and underemployment/unemployment persists which and there is a high proportion of children living in them. In terms of more "unity", this was also not a surprising result because spending a few months in the community, I found that Santa Marta was indeed very disorganized and separated.[7] Part of this could be attributed to lack of participation in community events and/or lack of opportunities to do so, as some residents have complained to me. Even though many NGOs and social projects exist in the community, the beneficiaries seem to be the same people each time. This finding is similar to the PSECBR study which reports that only 7% of residents actually participate in community events. Another explanation is the pervasiveness of the drug traffic trade in many favelas and in Santa Marta, the control of the neighborhood association by people associated with the trade. This trend could change, though. Since I left in July 2003, one of the community leaders I interviewed won the seat of Neighborhood Association President. This leader aims to connect the bottom, middle and upper sections of the hill.

The last two priorities mentioned by community leaders relate to public policy and government intervention in the favelas, with the most important intervention being the Favela Bairro Program. While this paper does not aim to talk about the merits and contents of this new program initiated in the mid-1990s, with the financial and technical support from the Inter-American Development Bank (at least $300 billion disbursed by the Bank so far to benefit over 120 favelas), it seeks to understand the origins of favelas and the history of government policies aimed at improving or removing them.

Part II: What's in a Name? – Definitions Through Historical and Public Policy Lens

As defined earlier, favelas refer to land areas occupied by illegal invasions. In English, some people refer to them as squatter settlements, slums, or informal settlements. It is interesting to learn about the different words for informal settlements in other countries since theses words conjure up strong images and meanings that are specific to the location and/or time period. For example, in Sri Lanka the general term used is "under-served settlements" in official documents, but depending on with whom you talk, the word changes to "tenement gardens" (deteriorating pre-1940s labor quarters in the older parts of the city) or "shanties" (informal structures in pockets around the city and along the edge of the road).[8] In Lebanon, the word commonly used to describe informal settlements is "al dahia" (or suburbs, in English). Although not all "al dahia" consist of informal settlements, the Lebanese tend to use this term to describe the Shiite population living in these southern suburbs. Because most Lebanese associate illegality with Shiism, the definition of "al dahia" has become not just political but also religious.[9] Just like in Sri Lanka, Lebanon and many other countries in the developing world, the definition and meanings associated to the word "favela" has historical, social and political roots.

In Brazilian Portuguese, favela has been and continues to be used interchangeably with the words morro, parque proletário, conjuntos habitacionais, loteamentos irregulares depending on the actual characteristic of the settlement. By characteristic, I mean physical, political and/or cultural which I will explain in this section. Today, the trend in Rio has been to replace 'favela' with the word "comunidade". However, in my interviews and informal conversations with many leaders of various "comunidades" in Rio de Janeiro, I have stumbled across these diverse words mentioned above. As researchers and practitioners, we need to be aware of the different distinctions and the histories which go along with these varying terms. It may seem petty to many, but knowing the history and meanings of these words can help us gain insights to the lives and hopes of these citizens who have survived amidst conflicting policies of urbanization and removal which permeated the public policy arena towards favelas from the 1940s until the 1990s.

Favela as Morro

Favelas have been around for over a century. As Alba Zaluar and Marcos Alvito wrote in the introduction to the book they co-edited Um Seculo de Favela (A Century of Favela) which they first published in 1998 to commemorate the hundred years of existence of favelas in Rio de Janeiro: "FALAR DE FAVELA é de falar da história do Brasil desde a virada do século passado. É falar particularmente da cidade do Rio de Janeiro…/To talk about favelas is to talk about the history of Brazil since the turn of last century. To speak, particularly, of the city of Rio de Janeiro"[10]. The authors went on to describe the origins of the first favela which was situated on Morro da Providência close to the center of Rio de Janeiro[11]. The inhabitants of the first 'favela' in Rio were mostly soldiers who had just come back from fighting in the Canudos War in the northeastern state of Bahia back in 1897 and had received permission from the Ministry of War to construct houses and occupy that particular hill.

A morro means a hill. As described above, many of the dense informal settlements are situated on steep hillsides. The word 'favela' itself comes from a type of vegetation – "a bush abundant in the semi-arid Canudos area"[12] where the soldiers had just come from. Thus, Morro da Providência came to be known as Morro da Favela.

As the reader will see in subsequent pages, low-income communities are not all favelas nor are all favelas located on morros or hillsides. It is not so surprising then to see the two words used interchangeably. Perhaps a more important finding in the research of the origins of favela is the negative connotation which came to be associated with the word since its inception: dire poverty, violence, and poor hygiene. As early as the 1900s, newspapers and public authorities have referred to areas where poor people live as dirty, miserable and dangerous. The government response was to remove them from the centers of the city.