Complexo de Maré, a favela in Rio home to some 140,000 people, had been a blank spot on Google and city maps
down Rua Teixeira Ribeiro, a commercial avenue in the Complexo da Maré, Rio de Janeiro’s biggest favela, you barely notice the open-air drug markets guarded by teens with-47s. There are also pet stores with exotic fish, restaurants with better service than most Copacabana bistros and a hipster barbershop with mood lighting and retro décor. And now, for the first time, they have been counted.
The data created by the mapping have been shared with Google, and now the Maré’s streets and businesses are visible online and recorded by the city government. In 2016 more than 530 street names entered the official register, the largest collection in history. Their residents gained postcodes, which enabled them to sign up for bank accounts and receive letters.
The results illuminate how the favela’s economy works. Around 13% of businesses close each year but owners often start new ventures. The Maré has no physical bank, so startup capital usually comes from savings earned from jobs in the formal economy; only 15% of favela entrepreneurs have any debt. Businesses that are obsolete elsewhere thrive.
Similar mapping projects are now taking place in more than 200 of Rio’s 1,018 informal settlements, home to 23% of the city’s population. The hope is that they can bring about similar changes. But although counting encourages the government to pay attention, it cannot restore order. On May 6th police helicopters started shooting over the Maré just as children left schools. In the first four months of this year, cops in the state gunned down 558 people.
At the Museu da Maré, a humble institution housed in an old ship-building factory, exhibits show how life has improved. There are, barrels once used to haul water from the nearby Guanabara Bay. Nowadays 98% of residents have running water. Each year more attend university. “We thought the violence would disappear once we got electricity, water and trash collection, but we were wrong,” says Lourenço Cezar da Silva, the museum’s director.
México Últimas Noticias, México Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
Mafias run by rogue police officers are terrorising RioJair Bolsonaro's policies may end up strengthening mafia-like militias in Brazil
Leer más »
Contract awarded to build border wall in Rio Grande ValleyCustoms and Border Protection on Tuesday awarded a contract to build three new miles of wall on federal land in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, allowing the agency to begin construction where no barriers have existed before.
Leer más »
Brazilian officials say 42 inmates found dead at 3 prisonsRIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Forty-two inmates were killed at three different prisons in the capital of Brazil's northern Amazonas state Monday, authorities reported, a day after 15 died during fighting...
Leer más »
Namibia says China can buy Rio's uranium stake if it respects lawsNamibia's mines and energy minister said he has no objection to Rio Tinto&...
Leer más »
AP Analysis: Pro-Bolsonaro demos in Brazil show gov't risksLess than five months into Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's term, there are massive rallies both for and against the far-right leader. What the demonstrations say about Bolsonaro's struggles to govern. By peterprengaman
Leer más »
Brazil's anti-graft crusader struggles in Bolsonaro gov'tRIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Once a federal judge dreaded by Brazil's politicians, Justice Minister Sergio Moro is suffering at the hands of some of the very people he used to investigate. Since...
Leer más »
FAA investigating Chick-fil-A's exclusion at U.S. airportsFAA says it's investigating decisions to exclude Chick-fil-A from airport concession contracts in San Antonio and Buffalo over opposition to the fast-food chain owners' record on LGBTQ issues.
Leer más »
Why Chick-fil-A's decision to close on Sundays is a brilliant business strategyChick-fil-A locations are all closed on Sunday, in keeping with founder Truett Cathy's Christian faith. Here's why it's a brilliant business strategy.
Leer más »
GOP Gerrymandering Expert Had Role In Census Citizenship Question, New Filing SaysREVEALED: Court filings show a top GOP consultant known for drawing maps that gerrymandered districts to protect Republican control played a role in getting a citizenship question on the 2020 census
Leer más »
Despite Trump administration denials, new evidence suggests census citizenship question was crafted to benefit white RepublicansAccidentally discovered files indicate that plans to add the citizenship question date to 2015 and then were pushed after Trump took office.
Leer más »