Urban Planning for City Leaders - Cities Alliance

Urban planning for city leadersInformal settlement upgrading inManaus, BrazilManaus PROSAMIM Informal Settlement Upgrade © Skyscraper CityManaus is the industrial centre of Brazil’s Amazon region. Rapidgrowth, which saw the population increase 500 per cent from300,000 people to over 1.5 million between 1970 and 2003,was not supported by land control mechanisms or investmentsin infrastructure. Combined with a lack of affordable housing,unmanaged growth led to illegal settlements developing on thetributaries of the Rio Negro, called Igarapés. These settlementswere constantly at risk of flooding. They had no electricity,potable water or sanitation and, since solid and liquid wastewas dumped directly into streams, the settlements’ sanitaryconditions were poor.A vicious cycle of poverty and pollution began to develop inthese areas. Houses built on stilts obstructed the river’s drainagecreating an acute environmental problem, and the proliferationof mosquitoes and rats was a health hazard. The lack ofurban public space and foul smelling streams degraded thesurrounding neighbourhoods.102