Urban issues & challenges

Rio de Janeiro is a major city in Brazil, an NEE, where a large share of the population lives in favelas¹, informal settlements such as Rocinha, built on steep hillsides. Many have lacked clean water, sewerage and safe roads, and some have been controlled by drug gangs.

The Favela Bairro project, launched in the mid-1990s with funding from the city and the Inter-American Development Bank, aimed to upgrade favelas rather than demolish them². Water supply and sewerage were installed, so residents had clean water and fewer waterborne diseases³. Streets were paved and widened, allowing rubbish collection and access for emergency services, and day-care centres and sports facilities were built. Because residents stayed in their communities and kept their social networks, this was a more sustainable approach than clearance, and the project was seen as a model for other cities.

Other schemes tried to improve access and safety. A cable car opened in 2011 in Complexo do Alemão⁴, cutting the time it took residents to reach the city below and making it easier to get to work. From 2008, Pacifying Police Units were placed in some favelas to drive out gangs, which reduced violence in some areas for a time.

However, the success was limited. Improvements depended on continued funding, and some infrastructure was poorly maintained. The Alemão cable car was suspended in 2016 because of funding and maintenance problems⁵ and was still being repaired ten years later, so its benefits were lost for years. In upgraded favelas, rents and living costs sometimes rose, which pushed some of the poorest residents out⁶. Upgrading also did little to tackle the root problem of low incomes and informal jobs, and violence returned to several pacified favelas.

Overall, urban planning has improved the quality of life of the urban poor in Rio to a moderate extent⁷. Basic services such as water and sanitation brought lasting health benefits for many residents, but the improvements were uneven, sometimes temporary, and did not fix poverty itself, so many people's quality of life remains low.

Before the 2012 Olympic Games, the Lower Lea Valley in Stratford, East London, was a run-down area of derelict factories, contaminated land and polluted waterways¹, with high unemployment in the surrounding neighbourhoods. Hosting the Games was used to regenerate it.

The contaminated soil was cleaned and the land was turned into the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, with parkland, wetlands and cleaner rivers. This improved the environment and gave local people green space for exercise and leisure, which improves health and wellbeing².

The Westfield Stratford City shopping centre opened in 2011³ next to the park and created thousands of jobs, many filled by local people, which brought income into an area that had suffered from unemployment⁴. The former athletes' village became East Village, with thousands of new homes, a share of them affordable, helping to meet housing demand. Transport was improved, including the Elizabeth line, so residents can reach central London more quickly⁵, opening up more job opportunities.

However, house prices and rents in the area have risen, so some critics argue⁶ that newer, wealthier residents have benefited more than the original community.