Although extremely urgent, accurately measuring the violation of rights in vulnerable territories has not been a priority in Brazil. A relevant contribution in this regard now comes to light with the Overview of favelas and “invisibilized” communities in the state of São Paulo (from the original, Panorama das favelas e comunidades invisibilizadas do estado de São Paulo), launched on October 3 at Insper. The research, conducted by TETO)Brasil (a social organization that combats poverty and promotes quality housing in vulnerable communities), is the result of a partnership with the Center for City Studies | Insper's Arq.Futuro Laboratory (from the original, Centro de Estudos das Cidades | Laboratório Arq.Futuro) and the consultancy firm Diagonal and can be accessed at this link. TETO researchers and volunteers interviewed residents of five communities in the capital of São Paulo (Verdinhas, Bemfica-Machado, Pedra Branca, Capadócia, and Tekoa Pyau), three in the metropolitan region of the state (Fazendinha, Porto de Areia and Boca do Sapo), and one in the countryside (Comunidade da Paz).

 

Tomas Alvim, general coordinator of the Center for City Studies | Arq.Futuro Laboratory, believes that the Overview brings visibility to “invisibilized” communities, one of the many facets of inefficiency in urban development and public policies in Brazilian cities. “These are territories that are invisible to our eyes, in general, and sometimes even to those who live in the communities themselves,” says Alvim. “We are talking about the substratum of our society that, given the pace and dynamics of our public policies, unfortunately will not be served within its life cycle by a program that can provide access to housing and a dignified life.”

 

The research corroborates the multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspective of Insper’s knowledge center, in addition to paving the way for solutions anchored in data and evidence. “For us, it is essential to have, within academia, participants who are, in fact, connected to the territory and who are effectively acting to transform these communities. Based on these experiences, combined with scientific and analytical knowledge, we will be able to produce public policies that meet the greatest challenges of our urban centers. Today, we have a fundamental role as a society to work together, institutionally, to address these challenges that so haunt our cities,” adds Alvim.

 

According to Kátia Mello, co-president of Diagonal, it is necessary to understand and acknowledge the dramatic and painful reality of families who live in the favelas, in the poorest and most vulnerable communities in Brazil, which are predominantly made up of young black people with low levels of formal education. “Once we acknowledge them, we can transform them into better, safer, and more dignified places to live, through efficient and effective public policies and private initiatives,” says Kátia. “Initiatives like TETO’s, in strategic partnership with Insper and Diagonal, are essential to examine and acknowledge the ways of life and theneeds of such “invisibilized” communities, nine of them which Overview records and shines a light on with great care.”

 

 

Different needs

 

Camila Jordan, executive director of TETO Brasil, explains that the organization works with the most vulnerable communities. The nine studied favelas have different needs than more well-known territories such as Rocinha and Maré, in Rio de Janeiro, or Heliópolis and Paraisópolis, in São Paulo. “People have no idea of ​​the level of vulnerability in which these families live,” says Camila. “The general image of a favela is that which appears on TV, in soap operas and tourist photos, that of the hills above Rio de Janeiro. But there are several types of favelas. Resources and public policies do not reach these “invisibilized” territories.”

 

The Overview is an attempt to remedy this neglect, says Camila. TETO has consolidated data from 221 Brazilian communities, including urban favelas, irregular and clandestine subdivisions, rural settlements, quilombos (historically, communities formed in Brazil by escaped slaves, during the colonial and imperial eras; nowadays, the name is also used to refer to communities formed by descendants of the peoples and communities from that time), and indigenous villages. The information is available on the open platform Mapa de Direitos (from the original). The Overview covers nine territories with complete data from 2019 to 2023. 2,330 surveys were conducted, interviewing 17,596 people from 5,373 households on a voluntary basis. The same survey was conducted in all communities, which produced data that can be compared.

 

These numbers help outline action plans together with the communities, with priority given to the urgent needs for housing and other infrastructure projects. “When you live in a wooden shack with a dirt floor and a roof that provides no shelter from the rain, you can barely think about tomorrow, let alone organize yourself to fight for your rights,” says Camila. “Emergency or temporary housing is not a permanent home, but the first step towards providing the minimum acceptable level of dignity and allowing the opportunity to continue evolving and fighting for the community.”

 

TETO's goal is to disseminate knowledge not only among public sector stakeholders, but also among civil society and private social investment sources. “Not all people who work with favelas necessarily work in hyper-vulnerable favelas,” Camila notes. “In Brazil, the problem runs deeper. Several foundations in the country focus their investments on education, which is important, but millions of people continue to live in the mud, without bathrooms at home. Children from these “invisibilized” communities come home from school and are unable to study because they live in shacks without water, electricity, or basic sanitation.”

 

The consequences of extreme weather events resulting from global warming also dramatically increases the housing challenge in these communities. “The financing that exists for climate adaptation in formal cities is scarce, so only through the third sector — category of non-profit organizations that tackle social, environmental, cultural, and educational causes together with the public and private sectors —  is it possible to carry out some climate mitigation and adaptation works in favelas that are not yet regularized,” Camila points out.

 

Regarding the partnership with the Center for City Studies | Insper’s Arq.Futuro Laboratory and Diagonal, Camila says that she found people who shared the same indignation regarding housing in the most vulnerable favelas. “It happened naturally,” she recalls. “It’s extremely useful to bring together people from academia, the market, the government, the third sector and social movements. That’s a very rich environment for exchange and networking, something that we very much search for at TETO.”

 

Researcher Ygor Santos Melo, social manager at TETO Brasil and a Master’s student in Habitat at the University of São Paulo, expected to find significant levels of precariousness and vulnerability indicators, since he has been studying these territories for years. “I just didn’t imagine that the abyss would be so deep,” says Melo. “The research reveals how little these communities figure in academia, in studies in general, in the press, and in the collective view of favelas. There are layers of poverty and vulnerability that pile up even more in the more precarious territories. We began to realize that these territories lack social capital, economic capital, and institutional support. Public policies also have no idea of ​​the complexity of these territories.”

 

 

Subsidies

 

The intention of the Overview is to provide resources for policies aimed at the needs of these populations, in addition to helping communities find their own paths. On average, across the nine favelas, for example, only one in every 160 people has completed higher education, while the national average is one in every five. Around 40% of residents are under 20 years old and 4% are over 65, compared to 27% and 11%, respectively, in Brazil. And 78% of people identify as black or mixed race, the national average being 55.5%. The indicators thus reveal that these territories are mostly made up of a young, black or mixed-race population, with low access to education and many health problems, Melo states.

 

According to the researcher, literature defines human vulnerability on the basis of three factors: exposure to risks, resilience, and difficulty in adapting. In terms of exposure, two out of every three households in these favelas are exposed to risks such as flooding or landslides, without any protective infrastructure. Resilience is also limited, as 43% of the houses are built with wood, tarpaulin, or scrap metal, and 69% face problems such as excessive cold or heat, exposure to insects and rodents, or infiltration of humidity or water. Finally, regarding adaptation: “The level of education is one of the main elements for measuring the capacity to adapt to risks, because it indicates that an educated population is more creative and capable of demanding their own rights and accessing public institutions to attract public or private resources for local development,” points out Melo. “Another aspect is access to formal employment. Work contracts provide the minimum acceptable levels of stability, which often translate into a better home. However, 63% of the population in these communities live off informal or self-employed work, without a formal contract, which suggests a fragile employment relationship and a limited capacity to adapt to new situations.”

 

For each of the territories, the report sought to tell a unique story. “In indigenous territories, for example, it is a snapshot of the struggle to demarcate indigenous lands and the effects that this population suffers, which are quite unique,” ​​says Melo. “A permanent TETO team worked in all the communities for extended periods of time during these five years. In my case, I travel to all the territories to get to know all the details, which is an important research tool. This allows us to be more precise and find ways to act. Such data is an additional element in a broader methodology of dialoguing with these people and creating connections.”

 

Even though the Overview outlines a profile of the hyper-vulnerable territories in the state of São Paulo, Melo emphasizes that its methodology can be applied to other regions as well. “The research is based on a diagnostic methodology that will map out the territories in the urban area, visit them, and listen to their population based on the survey criteria applied,” he comments. “The methodology allows improvements for responding to local characteristics, supporting a census of indigenous, quilombola (people residing in quilombos), riverside, favela, and urban community populations and rural settlements, among others, to get to know the real Brazil—because this is the real Brazil.”

 

 

Subsídios 

 

A intenção do Panorama é fornecer elementos para as políticas direcionadas às necessidades dessas populações, além de ajudar as comunidades a encontrar os seus próprios caminhos. Na média das nove favelas, por exemplo, uma em cada 160 pessoas tem ensino superior completo, enquanto a média nacional é de uma a cada cinco. Cerca de 40% dos moradores têm menos de 20 anos e 4% mais de 65 anos, ante 27% e 11%, respectivamente, no Brasil. E 78% das pessoas se declaram pretas ou pardas – a média nacional é de 55,5%. Os indicadores revelam, assim, que esses territórios são formados majoritariamente por uma população jovem, preta ou parda, com baixo acesso à educação e muitos problemas de saúde, reforça Melo.

 

De acordo com o pesquisador, a vulnerabilidade humana é definida na literatura por três fatores: exposição aos riscos, capacidade de resistência e dificuldade de adaptação. Em relação à exposição, dois em cada três domicílios nessas favelas estão submetidos a riscos como inundações ou desmoronamentos de terra, sem qualquer infraestrutura de proteção. A resistência também é limitada, pois 43% das casas são construídas com madeira, lona ou sucata e 69% enfrentam problemas como frio ou calor excessivo, entrada de insetos e roedores ou infiltração de umidade ou água. Por fim, a adaptação: “O nível de educação é um dos principais elementos para mensurar a capacidade de se adaptar aos riscos, porque indica uma população mais apta, criativa e capaz de reivindicar os próprios direitos e acessar as instituições públicas para atrair recursos públicos ou privados para o desenvolvimento local”, pontua Melo. “Outro elemento é o acesso ao emprego formal. A carteira de trabalho proporciona um mínimo de estabilidade, que muitas vezes se converte numa casa melhor. Mas 63% da população nessas comunidades vive de trabalho informal ou autônomo, sem carteira assinada, o que sugere fragilidade no vínculo empregatício e na capacidade de adaptação.”

 

Para cada um dos territórios, o relatório buscou contar uma história única. “No território indígena, por exemplo, é um recorte da própria luta de demarcação de terras indígenas e dos efeitos que essa população sofre, que são bastante ímpares”, diz Melo. “Em todas as comunidades, atuou uma equipe fixa da TETO, por algum período, durante esses cinco anos. No meu caso, ando por todos os territórios e conheço os detalhes, o que foi uma ferramenta importante de pesquisa. Isso nos permite dar precisão e encontrar caminhos de atuação. O dado é um elemento adicional a uma metodologia mais ampla de estar com essas pessoas e criar vínculos.”

 

Mesmo que o Panorama desenhe um perfil dos territórios hipervulnerabilizados do estado de São Paulo, Melo ressalta que a metodologia pode ser aplicada em outras regiões. “A pesquisa está baseada numa metodologia de diagnóstico que vai mapear os territórios na malha urbana, visitá-los e ouvi-los a partir da enquete aplicada”, comenta ele. “A metodologia permite aprimoramentos para responder a características locais, apoiando um censo das populações indígena, quilombola, ribeirinha, das favelas e comunidades urbanas e dos assentamentos rurais, entre outros. Para conhecer o Brasil de verdade. Porque o Brasil de verdade é este.”