An invasion by citizenship
The author of the book on the differences between ‘favela’ and formal city, journalist Zuenir Ventura cooperates with his ideas for the ‘Morar Carioca’ housing program.
Ventura, who writes urban short stories on Rio, participated in a panel at Instituto de Arquitetos do Brasil (IAB)
‘Favelas’ with urban facilities, accessibility, connected to the public transportation network. These and other benefits by the ‘Morar Carioca’ housing program will gradually do away with Rio’s handicap as a divided city and convert it into an integrated city.
- Rio is undergoing a very special moment. It is crucial that society, the public authorities, business circles, and every one of Rio’s citizens should become aware that we need to move forward and grasp this very favorable moment of high self-esteem to complete this integration. Because the Olympic Games and the World Cup are coming, and Rio should be prepared socially for this, completely integrated – asserts journalist Zuenir Ventura, who gave a current connotation to the term ‘divided city’ in his book of the same name in 1994. This writer was one of the speakers in the ‘Morar Carioca’ 3rd panel at Instituto de Arquitetos do Brasil (IAB).
Seventeen years later, he sees a new development taking place in Rio. Infrastructure and social actions are among the changes needed to activate the sporting and cultural dimensions of the people of Rio during the period prior to the Olympic Games. The City Hall’s project provides for urban improvements by the year 2020 in all of the ‘favelas’ where these projects are possible. – When we refer to invasions by citizenship, we are thinking of the existence of a sewage system, water, out-patients wards, in summary, those facilities that are commonplace in the formal city. This is simple, not a miracle, this will not require an eye-catching project. These are basic, simple things – states Ventura.
Changes in the State’s security policy, believes the writer, opened doors for integration between ‘favelas’ and surrounding districts:
- The UPPs (police peace-keeping forces) are a start, the starting point for social projects. Never before was there a project as consistent as this. Bit this is the start, not the end. Much will be required on this path, the right path to obtain an entirely integrated city. It still requires a social dimension. Security by itself is not a solution. Right now we need an invasion by citizenship, and this integration will become a reality.
