From Wood Huts to Buildings of Seven Floors: An Analysis of the Process of Housing Production in the Slum of Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, over a Fifty-Year Period

Abstract

This work is the result of the current reflections of our professional and academic activities. Over the last 20 years, we have been working in several slum dwellers communities located in the metropolitan area of Rio de Janeiro, developing urbanization projects dealing with social dwelling units and community facilities. Accompanying the poorest population on a daily basis, we concluded that the study of the process of housing production in those communities, promoting the analysis of the actions of the different involved agents, could contribute to a better characterization of the dynamics of production of the built environment in the slums in Rio de Janeiro. In order to develop that work we chose the slum of Rocinha, located in the south area of the city of Rio.