The Favela Bairro project in Rio de Janeiro is an example of a site and service scheme, and was used to improve life in Rocinha. Site and service schemes are used to upgrade informal settlements (like favelas) by providing residents with basic infrastructure and services, while allowing them to build or improve their own homes over time.

A site and service scheme involves:

Site: The government or city provides land that is legally recognised, usually in or near existing informal areas.

Services: The city installs basic infrastructure like a clean water supply, sewage systems, electricity, roads and footpaths, street lighting, rubbish collection, and health and education facilities.

Residents are then responsible for building or upgrading their own homes, often with some technical support or small grants.

Site and service schemes have several benefits - they are cheaper and less disruptive than demolishing favelas and relocating residents, they allow people to stay in their community while still improving their standard of living, and they encourage community involvement and ownership of the improvements.

Rocinha - Rio's largest favela

Rocinha (pictured below) is the largest favela in Brazil, located in the south zone of Rio de Janeiro. It is built on a steep hillside between the wealthy areas of São Conrado and Gávea, very close to the city’s famous beaches and business districts. Population estimates are between 75,000 and over 100,000, though numbers vary due to informal housing and underreporting.

Rocinha began as an informal settlement in the 1930s. Over time, it grew rapidly due to rural-urban migration, especially from Brazil’s poorer northeast. Today, it has multi-storey homes, electricity, shops, schools, and even banks - making it one of the more 'developed' favelas.

Challenges faced by residents:

• Overcrowding and poor housing quality - many homes are self-built using basic materials like bricks, with no formal planning or safety standards, and homes are densely packed and often expanded vertically with weak structures

  Lack of sanitation - limited access to sewage systems and clean running water, and open sewers in places and poor waste disposal contribute to health risks

• Poor infrastructure - narrow, winding alleys make access for emergency services difficult, and frequent power cuts and illegal electricity connections are common

• Crime and safety - Rocinha has a history of gang violence, largely due to drug trafficking, and while police presence has increased, tensions remain between communities and security forces

• Health risks - due to poor sanitation, residents face issues like dengue fever, diarrhoea, and respiratory illness from air pollution

Favela Bairro Project

The Favela Bairro Project is a famous example of a site and service scheme in action - and Rocinha was one of the favelas involved. The project aimed to integrate favelas into the formal city by providing services rather than demolishing homes and over 100 favelas were upgraded between the 1990s and 2000s. Improvements included legal land ownership, paved roads, public squares, community centres, schools, and drainage systems. The goal was to improve quality of life without displacing people, and to reduce inequality between informal and formal parts of the city.

The Favela Bairro Project resulted in many improvements across Rio's favelas, including securing steep hillsides to stop landslides, a new cable car system (pictured below) to allow residents to get to jobs in the city centre, access to credit and 100% mortgages to enable residents to make improvements to their homes, and a Pacifying Police Unit (UPP) to reduce crime and regain control of favelas from criminal gangs.

How did the Favela Bairro Project improve Rocinha?

Due to its large size, population (over 100,000 people), and complex layout, Rocinha posed more challenges than smaller favelas, so therefore was only partially involved in the Favela Bairro Project. As a result, only certain sections of Rocinha received improvements like paving of paths and roads, public spaces and sports areas, better access to clean water and electricity, and some community buildings and schools.

Rocinha’s dense construction, steep hillsides, and unregulated growth made full-scale intervention difficult. In addition, funding was limited, and priorities shifted over time, especially as new urban programs (like PAC – Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento) were introduced later by the federal government.

The PAC programme

The PAC programme (Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento - Growth Acceleration Program) was a federal government initiative launched in Brazil in 2007 to boost economic growth and improve infrastructure across the country, including in favelas like Rocinha.

The PAC programme helped Rocinha in several ways...

Infrastructure improvements: New drainage systems were installed to reduce flooding and improve sanitation, and sewage pipes were extended to many parts of Rocinha that previously had open drains. Additionally, improved street paving and widening of roads allowed for better access by vehicles, including emergency services and rubbish collection.

Housing upgrades: Some poorly built homes were demolished and replaced with safer, more stable public housing blocks, and other homes received support for upgrading roofs, walls, and sanitation.

Public facilities: New health clinics (UPAs) were constructed to improve access to healthcare, along with a sports complex and community centres built to offer recreational and educational activities for youths, and a day-care centre to support working families.

Transport improvements: One of the most ambitious projects was the plan for a cable car system (like the one below) to link Rocinha’s steep hillsides with nearby urban areas and reduce reliance on long walks or crowded minibuses. However, this project faced delays and was never completed, although some infrastructure, such as the station, was built.

Social support and community involvement: The PAC programme encouraged community participation in planning and decision-making, and residents were involved in shaping priorities for the upgrades, making the interventions more targeted and accepted.

However, there were limitations to the PAC programme as not all planned works were finished as some projects ran out of funding or were stalled by bureaucracy and political changes. Additionally, violence and control by drug gangs in parts of Rocinha made it difficult to carry out work in some areas, and maintenance of infrastructure after the upgrades has been inconsistent.

Has life improved in Rocinha?

The Favela Bairro Project and the PAC Programme have both led to many improvements for those living in Rocinha, including more permanent housing with bricks and concrete, access to shops, schools, health clinics, and even small businesses, some basic services like electricity and piped water, and a sense of community pride and identity.

However, many of Rocinha's problems remain. The informal status of homes and lack of legal ownership is still an issue, particularly when thinking about investing money into home improvements. There is also incomplete sanitation and sewage coverage across the favela, so the risk of waterborne disease is still high. Additionally, the risk of landslides due to steep terrain and unregulated building remains, meaning that many homes are still precarious. Furthermore, there are still concerns about crime and safety in many parts of the favela - criminal gangs linked to drugs are still dominant in some areas. Despite improvements, inequality between Rocinha and surrounding wealthy areas remains stark.