Rocinha
| Rocinha | |
|---|---|
| Neighbourhood | |
 |
|
 Rocinha
Rocinha
|
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| Coordinates: 22°59′19″S 43°14′54″W / 22.98861°S 43.24833°WCoordinates: 22°59′19″S 43°14′54″W / 22.98861°S 43.24833°W | |
| Country |
 Brazil
|
| State | Rio de Janeiro (RJ) |
| Municipality/City | Rio de Janeiro |
| Zone | South Zone |
| Administrative Region | Rocinha |
| Area | |
| • Total | 143.72 ha (355.14 acres) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 69,356 |
| • Density | 48,000/km2 (120,000/sq mi) |
Rocinha (little farm) is the largest favela in Brazil, and is located in Rio de Janeiro's South Zone between the districts of São Conrado and Gávea. Rocinha is built on a steep hillside overlooking Rio de Janeiro, and is located about one kilometre from a nearby beach. Most of the favela is on a very steep hill, with many trees surrounding it. Almost 70,000 (census 2010) people live in Rocinha, making it the most populous favela in Brazil.
Although Rocinha is officially classified as a neighbourhood, many still refer to it as a favela. It developed from a shanty town into an urbanized slum. Today, almost all the houses in Rocinha are made from concrete and brick. Some buildings are three and four stories tall and almost all houses have basic sanitation, plumbing, and electricity. Compared to simple shanty towns or slums, Rocinha has a better developed infrastructure and hundreds of businesses such as banks, medicine stores, bus lines, cable television, including locally based channel TV ROC (TV Rocinha), and, at one time, a McDonald's franchise. These factors help classify Rocinha as a favela bairro, or favela neighborhood.
There are a number of community organizations at work in Rocinha, including three neighbourhood associations and numerous NGOs and non-profit educational institutions.
Rocinha is home to most of the service workers in Zona Sul (the South Zone of Rio). Within Rocinha there are numerous NGO's staffed by both Brazilian and foreign teachers, volunteers and workers.
In November 2011, a security operation was undertaken where hundreds of police and military patrolled the streets of Rocinha to crack down on rampant drug dealers and bring government control to the neighbourhood.
Rocinha is the largest favela in Brazil and one of the most developed. Rocinha's population was estimated at between 150,000 and 300,000 inhabitants during the 2000s; but the IBGE Census of 2010 counted only 69,161 people.
Robert Neuwirth discusses Rocinha in his book entitled Shadow Cities. Rio de Janeiro was made the setting for the animation film Rio, where many scenes take place in Rocinha.
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Wikipedia