Juan Luis Rod

In the state of Rio de Janeiro there are 1,018 favelas in which 22% of the population is grouped according to data from the IPP 2016 (Municipal Institute of Urbanism). Rocinha is one of the largest in Brazil, located in the southern part of the city, where many of its inhabitants are Brazilians who emigrated from the northeast of the country in search of better opportunities. This favela has a population density of 48,258 inhabitants per square kilometer, nine times more than Madrid.

In the favela, daily life runs smoothly, waiting for a job opportunity to increase the family's income. The scarcity of educational centers means that the streets are frequented by children at any time of the day, and in many cases it is the minors who run the small shops selling food products.

According to the 2012 census, 70,557 people live in Rocinha and are attended by two primary health care centers and two health centers with some specialties. This means that for serious illnesses the population has to move out of the favela in order to be treated.

Unemployment in Brazil affects 12.5% of the population (6.2 million people), and Rio de Janeiro is one of the regions with the highest unemployment. Young people aged 14 to 26 are most affected. The lack of secondary schools and the high cost of renting housing in other neighbourhoods of the city result in the difficulty for young people to train and leave the favela.

The Rocinha favela, despite the chaos of narrow roads that connect all its interior, is one of the few favelas that seeks in tourism an alternative for its development by offering guided tours. In recent years, the number of fast food outlets, local art galleries, cybercafé and other businesses that are gradually trying to change the urban landscape of the favela has multiplied. In this way, new employment opportunities are opened up that were previously non-existent.

Between the maze of alleys and multi-storey buildings, the town of Rocinha has only two squares or green spaces for public leisure, so social life takes place at the doors of houses and street crossings where children and adults meet daily.

Within the favela, security is in the hands of the different groups of drug traffickers who divide control of the neighborhoods, and the police only make a presence at the entrance and exit of the favela (except in special operations when they intervene for some reason).

With more than 18,000 inhabitants under the age of 14, the Rocinha favela has 16 kindergartens, seven preschools and three primary schools. In order to complete their secondary education, they have to leave the favela and go to other neighbourhoods where they offer higher education.

The state of infrastructure within the favela is quite precarious, and the majority of the population has access to unpaid electricity, generating a unique décor that extends down every alley.

In Brazil, 40.8% of people with a job do an 'informal job', that is, without a contract, and without a tax contribution for the state, according to data from IBGE 2018 (Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica). A large part of the houses have been self-built by the families that inhabit them, making the most of the available space, and shaping the characteristic landscape of the favelas, which while struggling to improve their living conditions, cover their basic needs.