Book Reviews
Slum Upgrading: Lessons Learned From Brazil
Over the past decade, Brazil has made important progress in legitimizing illegal settlements in big cities. However, according to a new study by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Cities Alliance, the Ministry of Cities, and the Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF), the technical capabilities of Brazilian municipal governments need to be strengthened if improvements are to be integrated into housing and urban policies that can be implemented in the city as a whole.
Slum Upgrading
Lessons Learned From Brazil
155 pp. Inter-American Development Bank
The book, ”Urbanização de Favelas: Lições Aprendidas no Brasil” [Slum Upgrading: Lessons Learned in Brazil] was launched on September 3rd during the World Urban Forum, sponsored by the United Nations. The forum, taking place in Naples, Italy through September 7th, discusses significant experiences in urban areas.
The study shows that unsuitable dwellings of uncertain legal status continue to dominate the landscape in Brazilian cities. The analysis shows that a favela urbanization policy, when integrated into a municipal urban design plan, ensures economies of scale and the continuity of the actions taken, enabling municipalities to obtain the maximum return in terms of development and wellbeing from investments.
The book examines nine state and municipal programs that have obtained IDB financing in Aracajú, Belém, Curitiba, Manaus, Rio de Janeiro and Baixada Fluminense, São Paulo, and Vitória. It discusses factors that either facilitate or hinder the design, execution, and maintenance of projects, and identifies four critical pillars: institutionality, continuity, quality and cost, and universalization of social services to beneficiaries.
