ESTILO Y DISPOSICION DE LAS PINTURAS

CONTEXT

LOCATION AND STATUS

The Brasília urban agglomeration, administratively known as the Integrated Region of Economic Development (IRED) of the Federal District and Surroundings, is located on Brazil’s central plateau in the mid-west of the country. Brasília is the Federal Capital of Brazil.

HISTORY

Brasília is one of the world’s newest large urban agglomerations. It had its origins in the 1940s, when a decision was taken to relocate the national capital from Rio de Janeiro as part of the ‘march to the West’, a programme to occupy and modernise the thinly-populated interior. How- ever, the idea only became a reality in 1956, when Juscelino Kubitschek was elected president. He saw the creation of the new capital as a powerful symbol of national identity and progress. example, there was a large solar project to power the stadiums for the Games. The municipality is

also involved in landfill-to-gas projects, while there are at least two manufacturing plants convert- ing waste to energy. The 2014 energy crisis as a result of the drought has given impetus to municipal programmes aimed at energy efficiency, such as LED street lighting and traffic lights, and the use of solar thermal water heaters in new housing projects. In terms of green fuels, the Rio municipality has converted around 8 500 buses to hybrid fuels (20% biodiesel).

INNOVATION-DRIVEN ECONOMY

Innovation in Rio was negatively affected by the economic crisis of the 1980s and 90s, but there has been a recent resurgence, with a number of major multinational corporations recognising the inno- vation potential of the metropolitan region and establishing state-of-the-art R&D laboratories. In 2010, IBM established its first research laboratories in Latin America, in São Paulo and Rio. Intel has launched an R&D facility in Rio, focused on the Internet of Things, Big Data, and High-Performance Computing; while General Electric has built its first new global R&D facility in a decade in Rio, call- ing Rio a “compelling draw”. Brazil’s Petrobras, headquartered in Rio, is also investing heavily in R&D, supporting a major technology centre and six experimentation centres.

There are also significant innovations in government, with IBM and other ICT companies working with the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro to create ‘smart city’ infrastructure and systems. A state- of-the-art Operations Centre has been established within the municipality to process live data in support of city decision-making.

The universities are playing a leading role in supporting innovation. The metropolitan region has two universities in the QS BRICS Top 50 for 2016: Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (29th), and Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (46th). Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro in particular is an innovation hotspot, with a range of key research centres, an Innovation Agency, and a Technology Park developed in partnership with major corporations such as Petrobras. Increasingly, there is networking between innovation centres, with the non-profit organisation REDETEC, for ex- ample, bringing together 53 universities, research centres and development institutions across the state of Rio de Janeiro in support of technological, scientific and cultural innovations.

With this new energy in the field of innovation, Rio is receiving new recognition as an innova- tion hub. At a 2015 conference on Connected Smart Cities, for example, it was referred to as the ‘smartest city in Brazil’. Rio was also recently included on a global Top-50 list of innovative cities in technology.

Rio de Janeiro ranked second in Latin America after São Paulo and 11th in the BRICS in the 2thin- know 2015 innovation Cities Index (although the global ranking was a modest 139th).

However, large satellite towns and cities have emerged beyond the edge of the original city, in both the Federal District of Brasília and neighbouring states. The low-density, meticulously-designed and wealthy urban core remains mainly physically separate from the sprawling low- to middle-income sat- ellite settlements, but is connected by daily commuting flows. There are at least 29 satellite settlements of varying sizes. Some are very poor, but others are experiencing a gradual increase in property value. Some of these settlements are in the Federal District – including, for example, Ceilândia (398 000 people), Taguatinga (222 000), Guará (112 000), Sobradinho (85 000) and Brazlândia (54 000). The origin of these settlements is evident, for example, in the name Ceilândia, with the CEI standing for Centro de Erradicação de Invasões (or ‘Squatters Eradication Centre’).

Some settlements in the extended region fall immediately outside the boundaries of the Federal District, in the States of Goiás and Minas Gerais. Águas Lindas de Goiás, for example, currently has a population of over 105 000, and is one of the fastest-growing cities in Brazil, serving as a low-in- come dormitory settlement for Brasília. Valparaíso de Goiás (population of 146 000) – built in 1979, for construction workers – is also fast-growing, as is Novo Gama (94 000), Planaltina (76 000) and Cidade Ocidental (60 000).

The urban agglomeration clearly remains deeply divided in class and spatial terms between the core and the satellites; and it is still to be seen whether a new socio-spatial structure will emerge, with (for example) connecting development between the city and the satellites.

ECONOMY

Despite its recent origins, the Brasília urban agglomeration has the third-largest GDP in Brazil, after São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In 2014 the GDP was USD 141.9 billion, or 3.97% of the GDP of Brazil. Within the BRICS it ranked 18th, between Mumbai and the Central Witwatersrand. Brasília has the highest GDP per capita, nearly double that of São Paulo.

Source: IGBE National Census 2010

Brasília’s economy is overwhelmingly dominated by services, reflecting the city’s status as the federal capital. Apart from government departments, Brasília hosts the headquarters of some of the nation’s largest public agencies, such as Brasil Telecom, Itaipu (hydroelectric power), the Brazilian post of- fice, and the Bank of Brazil. While there is a small industrial sector, the government has encouraged non-polluting industries such as software production, film and video, medical services and publishing. Brasília’s economy has performed well in national terms. Among the metropolitan regions, its growth since 1990 has been second only to Manaus in Amazonia, and it has the lowest unemploy- ment rate (around 5%).

Kubitschek appointed Oscar Niemeyer as chief architect and Lúcio Costa as chief planner for his award-winning Plano Piloto (Pilot Plan). The proposed city, designed for 500 000 people, resem- bled from above either an aeroplane or bird in flight. The city was officially opened by Kubitschek in 1960, although it would take another two decades or so to complete the move of government departments from Rio.

The city was intended to accommodate white-collar bureaucrats and the political elite; but during the construction period, large numbers of migrant workers known as cadangos arrived from the poorer north and north-east of Brazil. Many remained after construction was completed. Unable to access accommodation within the new city, these workers occupied emerging settlements in a belt around the city. The government was concerned that favelas would emerge in the region, detracting from the image of a modern city, and so reluctantly agreed to the development of sat- ellite cities (cidades satélies). A large city-region (the IRED) thus emerged, with daily commuting into the modern core.

After Kubitschek, Brazil descended into a dark period of military dictatorship, which left the emerging national capital globally isolated. But democracy was restored in 1985, and in 1987, Brasília was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for the grandeur of its modern architec- ture. It is the only twentieth-century city in the world with this status. As Brazil emerged as an emergent power on the global stage, so Brasília expanded in population and economy into one of Brazil’s leading metropolitan regions. However, it remains a city of controversy. For some, it is a remarkable achievement; but for others, it’s a sterile and isolated city, a product of modernist design that stands in stark contrast to gritty but vibrant cities such as São Paulo and Rio de Janei- ro. There are others, however, who view Brasília as an emergent city that will establish its energy over the longer term. It is a city somewhere between utopia and dystopia.

POPULATION

POPULATION SIZE

The United Nation’s Population Division estimates the Brasília IRED population at 4.16 million in 2015, an increase from about 3.9 million in 2010.

POPULATION RANKING

In 2015, Brasília IRED ranked 91st globally as an urban agglomeration; 37th in the BRICS; and fourth in Brazil.

POPULATION GROWTH

The population growth rate of the Brasília IRED is estimated at 2.27% per annum, among the high- est of Brazil’s metropolitan regions.

POPULATION DIVERSITY

The population of Brasília in 2010 was 48.2% mixed race, 42.2% white, 7.7% black, and 1.6% Asian. The foreign-born population is negligible, and consists mainly of the staff in international embassies.

STRUCTURE OF THE URBAN REGION

The urban region is focused around the Plano Piloto, of course, with its grand design and expansive modernist architecture. The city was never intended to house more than 500 000 people, and the huge national park to the north and the lake surrounding Brasília to the south-east largely prevent contiguous spatial expansion. The wealthiest parts of the region are contained within the original design (for example, Asa Norte, Asa Sul, Lago Norte and Lago Sul).

GDP BY SECTOR FOR FEDERAL DISTRICT, 2013

Other services 49% Manufacturing 7% Government services 78% BRAZIL

The overall modal share for Brasília differs from other Brazilian cities, with its greater share of private automobiles and lesser share of pedestrian activity – reflecting the history and spatial form of the city-region. As in other major urban regions, the bus dominates in terms of public transport, with a minority metro share. However, transport studies in Brasília have identified the minibus as an important form of transport, with other forms of neighbourhood transport also featuring.

Source: Governo dos Distrito Federal, 2010

BUS

The bus system covers the entire region, but in many of the outlying settlements the service is unreliable, expensive and not well connected to other modes of transport. Buses converge on Central Station in the central area of Brasília, as most jobs are still located in this core. In 2014, Brasília inaugurated its first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, Expresso DF, connecting the core city with the satellite towns of Gama and Santa Maria. There has been an estimated 55% reduction in commuting time along these routes. In 2016, Global BRT Data reported that the system was already carrying 40 000 passengers daily.

METRO AND LIGHT RAIL

The Metrô de Brasília introduced in 2001 is Brasília’s underground metro system. The subway system has 29 stations on two lines covering a total network of 42km, but is very partial in its coverage of the metropolitan region, serving mainly the two large, fairly well-located satellite cities of Ceilândia and Taguatinga. In 2010, construction began on a new light metro transport system which was to link the core city to the international airport and a major regional hospital, with completion in time for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. However, following allegations of fraud in the bidding process, construction was put on hold, and the system is now part of longer-term planning for the region.

GOVERNANCE

The Distrito Federal (Federal District), a rectangular block of land, was carved out of the State of Goiás. It forms one of the 27 federative units of Brazil (the others being the states) with its adminis- tration headed by a governor. The Federal District has the legislative powers of state and municipal government, and may collect both state and municipal taxes. In terms of the Brazilian Constitution, the Federal District cannot be divided into municipalities. However, the Federal District is divided into 31 administrative regions, each of which is governed by a regional administrator appointed by the governor. The portions of the metropolitan region (the IRED) outside of the Federal District fall under municipalities and state administration, as per the rest of Brazil.

DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES

In some respects, the metropolitan region is privileged in Brazilian terms. It has the highest per capita income, the highest share of its population with a tertiary education, and the lowest unem- ployment rate of all metropolitan areas in the country. Although Brasília has been a magnet for migrants, only 4.7% of its households lived in ‘sub-normal accommodation’ in 2010, reflecting both the relative socio-economic wealth of the region and also the efforts of government to ensure that favelas did not develop within the Federal District.

However, Brasília is an urban agglomeration with significant socio-spatial inequality. Residents liv- ing in the poorer satellite cities face long and expensive daily commutes, and have much poorer lev- els of servicing and infrastructure than in the core. This applies particularly to the settlements out- side the Federal District in Goiás and Minas Gerais, which do not benefit from the efforts of national government to ensure a positive image for the capital city. Within the core city itself, low-density sprawl creates a mobility challenge, and reinforces dependence on the private automobile. Organised crime is an issue for Brasília, but on a significantly smaller scale than for the larger cit- ies of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. There are recent reports of increasing levels of crime, in the satellite cities in particular. While the Zika virus is a major threat for Brazil, incidence levels on the high-lying plateau on which Brasília is situated are low.

THEMATIC REPORTS

TRANSPORT

ECONOMIC INFRASTRUCTURE

There is an extensive road network linking Brasília to other areas, with the intention of making the capital accessible to the rest of the country. The longest highway in this network is the 2 275-kilo- metre Belem-Brasília highway, linked to north-east Brazil. The railway system is far less developed, but a fast-track train connecting Brasília to Goiânia is under construction.

The Brasília-Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek International Airport serves the Brasília IRED, accom- modating major domestic and international flights. Owing to its central location in the country, it is the fourth-busiest Brazilian airport based on passenger numbers (16 million annually).

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Brasília was designed for the automobile, with large, non-pedestrian-friendly spaces separating the grand modernist constructions. This was reinforced by the emergence of the satellite settlements, spatially separated from the core city. The daily reality in the core city is traffic jams, lack of parking space, and high levels of noise, air and visual pollution; but with the city’s World Heritage Site sta- tus, there is little flexibility for urban design change. For residents of the satellite settlements, the reality is long and costly commuting times.

MODAL SHARE OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT

Metro 14% Microbus 17% Bus 67% Neighbourhood transport 2% MODAL SHARE Private transport 41% Public transport 36% Non- motorised 23% BRAZIL