Rocinha
Dharavi Largest slum in ASIA
Most important favela of BRAZIL
the Informal city:
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Are they really informal regarding their economy and urban infrastructure?
Mumbai is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populated city in India and the ninth in the world, with a population of 18.4 million. The city is situated in the west coast of India and has a deep natural harbour. Mumbai is the financial and commercial centre of India, producing 6% of the country’s GDP.
Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city of Brazil and also the second most populous city of the country with 12 million people living there. Rio has the second largest GDP of Brazil and the 30th largest in the world, estimated at about US$ 201 billion and serves as headquarters for the main oil, mining and media companies in Brazil.
Asia’s largest slum, Dharavi, is located right in the middle of Mumbai. Both the poverty of the place and also its bad drainage make the slum very vulnerable to floods during the wet season. In this place, where sanitation is a main problem, thousands of people live between dirtiness and unhealthy conditions while trying to make a living producing and selling manufactured goods.
Although the city clearly appears as a major economic centre, a large number or people live in favelas, where about 95% of its residents are poor. The most important favela in Rio, called Rocinha, has to deal with serious sanitation problems and survives thanks to the economical network that has been established within the settlement.
Dharavi (Mumbai)
Rocinha (Rio de Janeiro)
·FAC TS· 750.000 inhabitants
216.5 ha
= 5.000 inhabitants
Dharavi spreads in more than 200 ha, it’s located in the heart of mumbai and has a density which is 10 times the rest of the city. In terms of population, there are between 300.000 and 1 million people, being 750.000 the most accurate estimation. Hindi is the most common religion in the slum (60%). About 33% of Dharavi is Muslim and the Christian population is about the 6%.
3.464 inhabitants/ha
Polluting industries are moved to Dharavi as well. Artisans and rural migrants move in and create industries but the government does not invest in this area.
Mid 1800s
Extreme population density in Mumbai. Residential areas are segregated between eurpoeans and natives.
1947
Pottery Textile Leather Jewelry
This is causing the spread of diseases and serious public health problems. In Dharavi there are 4.000 cases of disease everyday.
= 5.000 inhabitants
648 inhabitants/ha
Rocinha is considered one of the most densely populated and urbanized slums. According to 2010 census, about 6% of Brazil’s population live in favelas. However, there could be even more people living in these settlements. Unofficial estimates say that up to 180.000 inhabitants live there, 110.000 more than in official census.
Early 1900s
Infrastructure projects give rise to the surrounding neighbourhoods of Rocinha. There is a demand of cheap workers and they are found in Rocinha.
Early 1800s
Slaves working in sugar cane fields and coffee plantations.
The lack of affordable housing and adequate policies for the poor workers causes the creation of FAVELAS.
Mid 1800s
An epidemic sets in Mumbai and the colonial government send many Indian natives out of the peninsular part of the city. Dharavi is born there.
Rocinha is connected to the rest of the city by streetcar. Poor people start building their small houses in Rocinha, to live close to their works.
Manufacture
Illegal connections and leakage. There is usually continuous electricity. + Open sewers causes air and water pollution and diseases. -
Davis M. (2007) Planeta de ciudades chabola. 3rd edition. Madrid: AKAL Prakash M.A. (2008) Dharavi: India’s model slum. Available from: http://www.planetizen.com/node/35269 Hosek E. (2013) The Troubling State of Sanitation in Rio. Available from: http://www.rioonwatch.org/?p=10892
The candidate for a city council position, Renato Caruso, gets Rocinha’s land and gives away plots to its future voters. He loses the election and the favela continues its growth from these plots.
Services
Has its own comercial network
Water Electricity Sanitation
Banks Internet café Food chains Guided tours Cable TV
Rocinha has many businesses such as banks, medicine stores, bus lines, internet cafés, even a local TV channel. Also it has a large commercial network including fast food chains or guided tours around the favela, which have an increasing demand. Anyway, Rocinha has a privileged location and that is one of the reasons why it has better standards that other shanty towns that are further away from services and jobs. Rocinha is now possibly an economically self-sufficient structure and perhaps we should not call it a favela anymore.
·INFRA STRUCTURE·
References:
1927
·ECON OMY·
Dharavi has an active informal economy that involves many types of business and production. The slums exports goods to all around the world like leather, textile, pottery... which are produced by Dharavi’s residents. It has an estimated number of 15.000 single-room factories and 5.000 businesses. The total annual volume of the slum is estimated in US$ 500 million. Apart from these industries, there is a growing recycling industry that processes waste from other parts of Mumbai. Could this slum be one of the engines of Mumbai’s economy?
Dharavi has big problems with public health and water and sanitation. Water is supplied from public standpipes located around the settlement and lavatories are limited in the area. The open sewers of the slum, drain to the local river causing odours and water pollution.
(Favela area)
1880s
Exports goods around the world
56.000 inhabitants
·BACK GROUND·
1890s
India gets independent from colonial rule. Mumbai grows fast and soon surrounds Dharavi, which becomes a core of informal economy and the dumping site of Mumbai.
86.4 ha
Water Electricity Sanitation
+ Most houses have running water. + 99% of houses have electricity. - Sewage flows through a channel in the middle of houses.
Rocinha’s majority of houses are made from brick and cement and have running water and 99% have electricity as well. Sanitation there is often a big problem; For example, sewage flows down a large channel in the middle of houses. 30% of the population in Rio is not connected to a formal sanitation system. In Rocinha, there have been protests led by activist groups against the implementation of a cable car instead of basic sanitation.
Dyson P. (2012) Slum Turism: Representing and Interpreting ‘Reality’ in Dharavi, Mumbai. Tourism Geographies [online] Volume 14 (issue 2) [Accessed 8 January 2016] Magalhaes F., Di Villarosa F. (2012). Urbanización de Favelas: Lecciones aprendidas de Brasil. [online] Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo
Ángel Gambín Gómez (Erasmus student) - 15031641