Introduction to Gentrification
“Gentrificação” has become a hot word in contemporary Rio de Janeiro, introduced in 2011 to the common vernacular. Catalytic Communities was the first [...]
Articles by Theresa Williamson
Community Planning
Since 2000 Catalytic Communities has worked closely with hundreds of leaders and residents from over 200 favelas across Rio, documenting and supporting the development of [...]
Pacifying Police Units (UPP)
State program established in 2008 by the Rio de Janeiro Public Security Secretariat to introduce “community policing” in favelas across the City of Rio and [...]
Growth Acceleration Program (PAC)
Federal program established in 2007 by President Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva and expanded under President Dilma Rousseff, providing large-scale infrastructure [...]
Minha Casa Minha Vida (MCMV)
Federal program established in 2009 by President Dilma Rousseff providing large-scale mass public housing nationwide, including over 66,000 units in Rio de Janeiro. [...]
Morar Carioca
City program established in 2010 run by the Rio de Janeiro Municipal Housing Secretariat to “upgrade all favelas in Rio by 2020,” building on historical [...]
Community-Based Sanitation
In July 2013 Catalytic Communities partnered with Solar Cities Solutions, a US-based NGO that has implemented community-based sanitation systems around the world, to bring [...]
Adverse Possession | Squatter’s Rights
Federal guarantee of the right to adverse possession for the purpose of housing provided via the 1988 Brazilian Constitution, based on the “social function of [...]
