RETHINKING TRE QUESTION OF THE 'FAVELAS'

Abstract

This article intends to analyze some aspects of the evolution of Rio de Janeiro's squatter settlements over the last decades with enphasis on: the improvement of its residential condi¬tions, the growing diversification of its socio-economic activities and the consequent valorization of its space. The article also discusses the real possibilities as well as the consequences of legalizing ownership, as the final step of a process of 'desfavelização'. Through this process, teh squatter settlements would lose not only the visible characteristics (rustic construction, inadequate infrastructure, etc.), but also the invisible characteristic (illegal occupation of land) that historically have been used to define them.