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 [...]
Articles by Theresa Williamson
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 [...]
A City Planner Responds: What is a Favela?
by Theresa Williamson, Ph.D. in City and Regional Planning and Executive Director of Catalytic Communities After fourteen years visiting favelas across Rio on a weekly [...]
Educational Community Visits
Since 2004 Catalytic Communities has worked with visiting university departments, graduate researchers, journalists, conference goers, and volunteer groups to provide [...]