Among the twenty most populous favelas and urban communities in the country, eight were in the North Region (seven of them in Manaus), seven in the Southeast, four in the Northeast and one in the Center-West
In Amazonas, one in every three people lives in urban communities, according to data from the 2022 Demographic Census released this Friday (8), by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (). This is the highest rate among all States. Amapá (24.4%) and Pará (18.8%), also in the North Region, come next, with numbers much higher than the national rate (8.1%). The states that top the list in percentage terms, as they are located in the Legal Amazon, raise the alert for possible damage to environmental preservation. The exodus in the region has paved the way for a process of favelization, especially in the metropolitan region of Manaus, which contributes to the advancement of factions, the militia and also environmental crimes.
The most populous state, São Paulo has the largest number of favelas, with 3,100 locations identified by the institute, practically a quarter of the total – Rio (with 1,700) and Pernambuco (with 849) complete the top of the list. The State also has two of the largest favelas: Paraisópolis (3rd), with 58.5 thousand inhabitants, and Heliópolis (6%), with 55.5 thousand.
Brazil has almost 16.4 million people living in favela areas, according to the Census. In total, there are 12,300 favelas or urban communities in the country. The research shows that they are concentrated in 656 cities, equivalent to less than 12% of the total number of municipalities. The IBGE now uses the concept of favelas and urban communities, classified as popular territories originating from population strategies to “meet, generally autonomously and collectively, their housing needs and associated uses (commerce, services, leisure, culture, among others). others), given the insufficiency and inadequacy of public policies and private investments aimed at guaranteeing the right to the city”
“This concept, although its content and essence have been the same for some censuses, the name, nomenclature and wording of the concept underwent a process of change in January 2024, as a result of a long process of discussion”, says the IBGE researcher Letícia de Carvalho Giannella. During this period, the institute heard entities about the changes.
The researchers indicated that, in practice, the changes resulted in the mapping of areas not identified by IBGE in the 2010 Census, the adjustment of the limits of previously mapped areas and the improvement of collection monitoring mechanisms during the operation. Therefore, the institute contraindicates direct comparison between the results of the two surveys. Still, he recognizes the importance of making careful comparisons.
Data from the 2010 Census indicated that, at that time, the country had 6,300 subnormal agglomerations (a concept used previously), which brought together favelas, invasions, communities, villages, etc. These clusters were present in 323 of the 5,500 Brazilian municipalities. In total, 6% of the population (around 11 million people) lived in these conditions. At the time, almost half (49.8%) of the cluster households were in the Southeast Region.
*With information from Estadão Conteúdo
Posted by Carolina Ferreira
