The course will introduce students to the transformation of Brazilian culture and society through the lens of urban change. Focusing on the case of Rio, it will discuss the different phases, challenges, and trends in the development of Brazilian contemporary cities. Emphasis will be placed on the current regularization of informal settlements, the role of the state in urban planning, and the immigration from the northeast. Rio de Janeiro is undergoing a radical and long due transformation. Motivated by external factors, such as the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, the city is tackling for the first time in history the pressing issue of social inequality. Through a process of ‘pacification’ of some of its 1,200 favelas, the local and state administrations are enforcing a hybrid model of land titling and social inclusion. This innovative approach, which meets a series of challenges and conflicts on the ground, is becoming a leading experiment in the field of environmental law, to be applied not only in Latin America but also in other urban contexts around the world.
Learning outcomes:
By the end of the course students will be able to:
Perceive the city of Rio de Janeiro as a space of dynamic interaction between the two traditionally opposed zones: north and south
Imagine the gradual transformation from a violent to a cooperative exchange between favelados and middle class cariocas in similar scenarios in the United States
Have an informed discussion about Rio’s master plan after 2016
Recommended readings:
Rachel Sisson, “Rio de Janeiro, 1875-1945: The Shaping of a New Urban Order”, in: The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, no. 21. The MIT Press, 1995.
Nicholas Arons, Waiting for Rain: The Politics and Poetry of Drought in Northeast Brazil. University of Arizona Press, 2004.
George Martine, Gordon MacGranahan, Mark Montgomery, and Rogelio Fernández-Castilla
(eds.), The New Global Frontier: Urbanization, Poverty and Environment in the 21st Century. London: IIED/UNFPA and Earthscan Publications, 2008.
Edésio Fernandes, Regularization of Informal Settlements in Latin America. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy: Cambridge, MA, 2011.
The course will introduce students to the transformation of Brazilian culture and society through the lens of urban change. Focusing on the case of Rio, it will discuss the different phases, challenges, and trends in the development of Brazilian contemporary cities. Emphasis will be placed on the current regularization of informal settlements, the role of the state in urban planning, and the immigration from the northeast. Rio de Janeiro is undergoing a radical and long due transformation. Motivated by external factors, such as the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, the city is tackling for the first time in history the pressing issue of social inequality. Through a process of ‘pacification’ of some of its 1,200 favelas, the local and state administrations are enforcing a hybrid model of land titling and social inclusion. This innovative approach, which meets a series of challenges and conflicts on the ground, is becoming a leading experiment in the field of environmental law, to be applied not only in Latin America but also in other urban contexts around the world.
By the end of the course students will be able to: