Urban Voids

Within Rio de Janeiro’s favelas’ socioeconomic contexts, a proposal for planning urban farming was developed as an occupancy of space, food and income generator for low-income population, through the implementation of micro farming systems using low-cost and recycled materials in different favelas’ scenarios which can be produced by the residents.

Rio de Janeiro was chosen as the case study to understand the constitution of the spontaneous urban fabric as it is the Brazilian city with the largest population living in favelas. Among 763 Rio favelas, 7 were selected due to the socioeconomic and morphological diversity shown. The locations were characterized and grouped according to their similarities, and one of these groups was chosen to study the planning guidelines. Once there are high densities, the selection criteria were based on the highest granulometry and irregularity, in addition to the low connectivity with the formal city, therefore, the group is composed by Morro dos Macacos, Mangueira and Vidigal. As for the socioeconomic aspects, there are two different situations: Mangueira has the highest percentage of people living below the poverty line in relation to the other favelas in the group. After understanding the favelas in their plurality, the specificity of them was recognized, taking advantage of its strengths and weaknesses, thus identifying the elderly and children as inducers of urban farming, as they are the economically inactive population and directly affect the poverty rate. To determine the planning guidelines, 3 situations were identified: the public space with voids and urban interstices between the housing and the circulation area; the private space with micro patios, slabs and facades; and transition spaces. Recycled and low-cost materials were used to create support structures for urban farms, considering the ergonomic guidelines indicated for both age range. Regarding the plant species, climatic conditions were considered as selection criteria, in order to promote healthy eating, activation of the microeconomics, restoration of biodiversity and active aging. The work set out to develop a project for the reality of favelas in Brazil, in which there is a great demand for space, but low infrastructure and resources. The found solutions are not ideal, however feasible, since it stimulates the population autonomy in executing the projects with least dependence as possible of the public authorities.