An LEDC city in Brazil...
This PowerPoint will explain all the problems with the
urban migration to here!!!
So where is Rio de Janeiro?
 Rio de Janeiro is in the huge natural harbour of
Guanabara Bay in the south east of Brazil
 It is one of the worlds mega cities
 It has a tropical savannah climate with an average
annual temperature of 23oC.
 Rio de Janeiro is an LEDC city and it used to be the
capital of Brazil... But now it’s been replaced by São
Paulo
So what’s the actual problem?
 More and more people are moving from the rural areas of
Brazil to the urban areas of Rio de Janeiro in search of
work, houses, fortune and a better quality of life. However
this causes pressures on the area because there isn’t enough
work, homes, wealth or facilities to take so many people. So
Rio de Janeiro is left with the problems of an increasing
population due to urban migration. People can’t afford to
move out again so they just stay and the conditions get
increasingly worse.
 People move to Rio de Janeiro due to various push and pull
factors, for instance, there may have been floods or draught
in their home town which mean they are unable to
continue to survive there or they may simply be searching
for work and a better quality of life.
Impact on Age Structure
 I would guess there is a high proportion of the population
in the younger years, because children are seen as an
investment for the future and can be sent to work at a
young age so provide another income, so more are born.
The lack of education will also cause the birth rate to rise
because of the lack of knowledge about things like
contraception.
 I would also expect to see a skew towards more productive
males in the city because males are more likely to migrate
and leave their families in the home town and then they
send money back home to them.
 There would also probably be a high number of 20-30 year
olds as this age group would be most likely to migrate in
search of a new life.
Wealth
 They might be a bit poor....
 There also may be a strong division between classes,
for example along the beaches of Copacabana and
Ipanema they is luxury housing that contrasts strongly
to the huge shanty towns (favelas), such as Rocinha,
that perch on the steep slopes of the mountains
behind Rio de Janeiro.
Employment
 Due to the lack of employment in Rio de Janeiro many
people turn to informal work (like being a SHOE
SHINER) but this means that they are not taxed and so
the government is put at a disadvantage.
 Work in the informal sector provides jobs for over half
of the city’s population.
Housing
 40% of the population lives in favelas or shanty towns such
as Rocinha.
 Rocinha is a large shanty town to an estimated 150000
people, though it is likely to be more. It is built on steep
land (too steep to build normal houses on) to the south of
the city, it is unwanted land because of frequent landslides
that often leave thousands of the favela inhabitants
homeless as their improvised homes are washed away by
the flash floods and mudslides that occur after rain events.
Over 200 people died in a storm in 1998 due to the
mudslides
 There are over 600 favelas, Rocinha being one of the
largest, people in these towns have no legal right to the
land they live on and could be evicted at any time
Housing continued
 The houses are made of scrap materials such as wood, corrugated
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iron, broken bricks and tiles
These shanty town homes have no facilities such and toilets,
running water or cooking facilities
The people often have to walk miles each day just to fetch clean
water to drink and cook with
There have been some efforts to evict these people and their
homes have been destroyed, but they have nowhere else to go so
simply return and rebuild after the immediate threat has passed.
The local authorities now accept favelas and are trying to
improve the living conditions in the shanty towns through
Schemes such as the Self -Help Scheme’s or the Favela Bairro
Project
Health
 Partially due to cramped housing conditions especially in
the favelas, in fact the population density is 329 people per
square kilometre (which is very high), the health
conditions are poor.
 There is easy spread for infectious diseases because
everyone is all together
 The poor sanitation and lack of clean drinking water mean
that there is a likelihood of outbreaks such as the cholera
outbreak in Rocinha is 1992
 However, recently there has been a lot of focus and
investment in the health care and the average life
expectancy has now risen to 72.59 years (in 2007)
Pollution
 As Rio de Janeiro has factories that spill out fumes and
pollute the surrounding area, and traffic congestion fumes,
the sea, beaches, and coast line is often very polluted. This
is the case with Guanabara Bay much of the time.
 There is also a huge problem with the amount of waste and
rubbish that the large city creates. In favelas this rubbish is
almost never collected and can pollute drinking water and
create health hazards.
 There is a lot of traffic congestion in Rio de Janeiro this is
partially because of the lack of routes in and out of the city,
whilst the mountains look pretty and everything they work
against the accessibility of the city and hem the city in.
Services available
 Given the large population in Rio de Janeiro it is
understandable that there are not enough services to
provide for all of the population.
 - education services.... .????
 Most of the people lacking in services are the people living
in the favelas. They lack even the basic services such as a
sewage disposal or rubbish collections, in fact, in some
favelas there are open sewage pipes running through the
town.
 Due to the lack of services around for people there is an
increase in crime because, especially amongst the
unemployed, they have nothing else to do and need to
resort to crimes
Crime
 Crime is a huge problem in Rio de Janiero, especially in the
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shanty towns due to poor street lighting and the lack of wealth of
the people. They find it necessary to steal simply to make ends
meet and afford the essentials of life, such as food.
Tourists going to the larger beaches such as Copacabana and
Ipanema are told not to bring valuables due to the risk of
pickpockets.
The well-off residents of Rio are leaving as fast as they can so that
they can et away from the crime rates and to safer environments.
The favelas are often associated with organised crime, violence
and drug trafficking
Residents argue otherwise and claim that crime is not a
significant problem and community spirit is very strong.
So in conclusion...
 Whilst the conditions of the overcrowding in Rio de
Janeiro due to rural-urban migration are improving
they are still rather low and have a long way to go.
 One of the solutions was to create more cities, but this
simply moved the problem of overcrowding and
favelas round the country more and only relived the
pressure very slightly.