Favela is a set of precariously built low-income housing without infrastructure (sewer, water supply, energy, health center, garbage collection, schools, public transport, etc.).
The favelas are located in irregularly occupied areas on the slopes of hills, on the banks of streams, rivers, canals, mangroves, etc. The houses are built in wood or masonry, many with more than one floor, with no spacing between them, creating a densely populated area.
Favelas are the living expression of social inequalities, marginalization and social exclusion of part of the population of large cities in the underdeveloped or developing world. In Brazil this cluster of buildings is called favela, in Peru – barriadas, in Chile – callampas, in Venezuela – barrios, among others.
Today, favelas have become part of the landscape of many Brazilian cities. The Rocinha favela, located on the Dois Irmãos hill, in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro, is known as the largest favela in Brazil, with approximately 70,000 inhabitants.
Since 1980, favelas have been undergoing an urbanization policy and the integration of these spaces into the city has given rise to the term "community", as a way to alleviate the stigma of the word favela.
Origin of the slums
The first favelas began to appear in the urban landscape of Rio de Janeiro in 1897, when soldiers were allowed to returned from the Canudos War to build their shacks in areas that had no real estate importance, such as the slopes from the hills. The installation of slums was accentuated from the 1950s onwards, a period in which the country underwent transformations economic growth, mainly due to the industrialization of large cities and the vegetative growth of the population.
Until the end of the 70s, Brazil suffered an intense rural exodus, that is, the departure of people from the countryside towards the cities in search of work. As the economy was not able to absorb all the available labor force, a large part of the population was impoverished and urban life deteriorated sharply. Where to work and where to live have become dramas for a large part of the population.
Without receiving public investments in urban infrastructure works, cities started to grow towards the periphery, where huge slums and clandestine allotments, as well as tenements, especially around industrial districts, contributing to urban explosion, underemployment, unemployment and the economy informal.