Sidewalks of Conflict

Abstract

The following is an altered-photo series unpacking some of the conflicts for space within a consolidated informal settlement in São Paulo, Brazil. My research of informal settlements began with coursework in the Winter of 2017 and was further developed over a summer in São Paulo working with RADDAR, a local research and design firm. With RADDAR, I was able to teach and learn from young adults within the community how to leverage group mapping as a means to communicate needs and urgencies of urban conditions. The following was developed based on primary observations, documentations, surveys, and conversations with local residents, community leaders, and colleagues throughout 2017. Through several means of engagement to facilitate an intimate analysis of spatial appropriation, I gained an appreciation for the complexities of occupying public spaces within the favela. I observed that informal settlements have a complicated relationship to the “public right-of-way” because of the lack of formal regulations, which results in self-policing from the community. In contrast to an American planning perspective, I argue that disparate groups occupying public space at their own discretion both inhibit and create the lively street culture that defines public life in favelas. This essay begins to typologize the methods of occupation of the street as either fluid, meaning transitory or temporary; enduring, meaning permanent; and fluidly enduring, meaning temporary occupations in lasting and predictable locations. Through a deeper reading, it is possible to extrapolate the values and power structures of the favela from the analysis of current encroachments.