Rocinha is a large favela or informal settlement located in Rio de Janeiro between the districts of São Conrado and Gávea. It is built on steep hillsides overlooking Rio de Janeiro and is home to around 70,000 residents. Originally a rural trading site and later a shanty town, Rocinha has become fully urbanized with most homes made of concrete and bricks and amenities like electricity, plumbing, and local businesses. The favela developed gradually throughout the 19th and 20th centuries as people migrated to the area seeking work and housing. While living in Rocinha provides opportunities for employment, challenges include overcrowding, limited jobs and space for expansion, public health and safety issues,

1. Rocinha.
By Ella.

2. Where is Rocinha?
Rocinha, also know as “Little Farm” it is situated in Rio de Janerio between
the districts of São Conrado and Gàvea. Rocinha is built on a very steep hill
which is surrounded by loads of trees, overlooking Rio de Janerio. Around
70,000 people live in Rocinha, making it the most popular Favela in Brazil.
Although Rocinha is a neighbourhood many still see it as a Favela. The
“Favela” (Neighbourhood) developed from a Shanty town into and Urbanized
Slum. Nearly every House if now made from concrete and bricks, and some
buildings are now have up to three and four stories. Most of the houses now
have basic sanitation, plumbing and electricity. Rocinha has now fully
developed business wise with hundreds of stores such as banks, medicine
stores, bus lines, cable television, and at one time there was even a
McDonalds! These local businesses have helped develop Rocinha into a fully
built, strong community.

3. What is the history of the settlement?
Nobody knew how the name Rocinha came about, but Rocinha was known
very well in the 1920’s for trading goods and food, so was known as “Little
Farm” which translated into Brazilian means ‘Rocinha’. In the 1800’s Slavery
was very common. Rocinha at the time was also well known for Trading. Large
fields of Sugar Cane and Coffee were grown. Mid way through the 1800’s
Transportation started coming about. Railroad street cars were introduced in
Gàvea. This form of Transportation contributed to Poor people with know
were else to live. This meant that they were able to travel up Estrada da
Gávea to build small houses in the middle of a thick jungle. In 1938 the chapel
and school Nossa Senhora de Boa Viagem was built. This played a big part in
peoples lives and still does to this day. During the 1960s and 1970s there
were efforts to remove several sections of Rocinha and relocate residents to
other parts of Rocinha. There was also a period in which violence and
organized crime increased dramatically in Rio de Janeiro, especially in and
around the favelas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laconia_Car_Company

4. What are the opportunities of Living in Rocinha?
• 99% of houses have Electricity and running hot water.
• Nearly all of the houses now are made from a strong base and
are built using cement and bricks.
• There is a very wide range of jobs now in Rocinha such as;
Police forces, shop owners, moto-taxi drivers, day-care helper,
market trader, domestic maid, tour guide, barber and so on.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-27635554

5. What are the challenges of living in Rocinha?
There’s always a Downside as well as a positive side with living in Rocinha,
some of them are;
• Settlements are usually very over-crowded.
• There are usually limited job spaces, due to many people living there job
spaces always go very quickly.
• If someone were to catch a deadly disease or illness it could spread quickly
if its not taken care of.
• Some jobs don’t pay as much meaning some residents houses aren’t as
suitable as others due to the fact they don’t earn enough money.
• If there were to be a large scale fire, it would be extremely hard for around
70,000 people to escape as the pathways are extremely narrow.
• Many people are migrating to Rocinha meaning space for houses is
becoming less and less.

6. What effects, if any, did the World Cup have on
Rocinha?
• The favela prices rocketed up during the world cup, meaning residents and
visitors couldn’t afford anything leaving them to sell their goods.
• People in the community became very heated in which caused gunfights
nearly every night.
• It increased sexual abuse of young girls, which caused three hotels to close
during the time of the World Cup.
• It caused houses to be bulldozed, meaning many families where forced to
relocate, despite the fact they didn’t have enough money.
• Due to the fact many people came, the impact of people caused some of
the biggest roads to gridlock and hospitals became packed.
• Due to the fact that Police forces had to be down monitoring at the
stadium, it increased the drug gangs and attacks up in the hills of Rocinha.

7. Maps!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zryqtfr/revision/11
http://www.rioonwatch.org/?p=11410