Coming to a town near you? Eco-wall or segregation: Rio plan stirs debate

By Gideon Swift | Published: December 9, 2009

Cement-block walls are being built around the shantytowns of Rio de Janeiro. Authorities say it’s to save rainforests. The city’s poorest residents say it’s an attempt to shut them out.
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The state of Rio de Janeiro began building the wall around Santa Marta in March, and it plans to spend $17 million on similar walls around the shantytowns.

There are nearly 1,000 such favelas — cramped poor communities built around the city. The squalid homes tilt from their shaky foundations, some built on top of others. Many are carved into the humid rainforest that cling to the hillsides.

It’s estimated about 20 percent of Rio’s 6 million people live in the shantytowns.