As part of my recent EventRights mobility to Rio de Janeiro, I revisited Vila Autódromo, a favela community that became emblematic of evictions linked to mega-events in the city.
I have followed this communities struggle against eviction for nearly a decade, first visiting in 2015 as part of my doctoral fieldwork, focussing on activism and resistance to the Olympic Games. While 97% of the community’s 600-700 families were evicted, the remaining 20 families, are possibly the only example around the world where Olympic organisers have tried and failed to remove a community.
Having set up an Evictions Museum as part of their fight against removal, several residents remain engaged in supporting other communities facing threats of eviction, be it in Rio de Janeiro or Brazil, or linked to sport mega-events around the world. They recorded a message of solidarity with Flower Drive in Los Angeles for example, which I visited on a previous EventRights mobility to Canada and Los Angeles. My monograph, Resisting Olympic Evictions, reports on this research and how the community effectively resisted the Olympic juggernaut and continues to fight for housing rights.
The community has changed a lot since my last visit, in 2018. The newly built homes, whitewashed boxes that lacked personality, and for many families, functionality have been expanded and extended, with some adding a second floor while others added more rooms to the rear of the homes. The diversity of housing makes the community physically distinct from the condominium-esque feel of the space after the new homes were constructed.
One of the major concerns of residents when I visited in 2018 was that the second phase of upgrading works, which had been promised within six months of the end of the Olympic Games, had not yet been completed. This involved the rebuilding of public spaces, such as a community centre, children’s play area and football pitch, all of which had been demolished in the pre-Olympic period. This work, which should have been completed by the end of 2016, was only completed in 2023.
There are two possible explanations for this. Rio’s Olympic Mayor, Eduardo Paes, was term-limited for the Mayoral elections in October 2016, directly after the Games, and his replacement was largely ineffective, especially faced with a challenging financial situation after hosting the mega-event. Paes however was re-elected in 2020 and has been developing legacy projects across the city since, clearly aiming to leverage the ‘success’ of the Olympics as he runs for higher office in the future.
Residents take a different view however, pointing out that the second phase of works was only completed because residents took the municipal government to court, with the assistance of public defenders. A judge then ordered the government to complete the work, which was included in a contract with residents in 2016, under the threat of a financial penalty that far exceeded the cost of completing the work.
Regardless, the utility of some of this work is questionable. There is now a children’s play area both in front of and behind the community. However, most families with young children accepted offers of alternative housing as the intensity of the fight against evictions meant the community was not a good place to raise a child. The brand new polisport pitch is not used by the community, one resident explained, because it is too small for adults and there are not enough children around.
In Brazil, there is a commonly used phrase for these kinds of investments. Originating in the abolition of slavery under pressure from the British government, investments and policy decisions that look good but don’t actually address the issues the population is facing are referred to as being ‘for the English to see’. Many mega-event developments in the city earned this moniker, particularly cable cars in two favelas – which do not help transport large numbers of residents but provide access for tourists.
Given the existence of two major Marriott hotels a stone’s throw from the community, this phrase seems apt for these developments. Without deep knowledge of the community’s history, a tourist staying at the hotel would see the shiny new investments provided by the government as evidence that there is support for the poor in Rio de Janeiro. Residents however tell a different story.
One thing that always struck me about this community, and which residents always emphasised, is the relative peace and safety. There were never issues with crime in the area, but the abandonment of the surrounding area, previously occupied by the community, has led to assaults and muggings in the area recently. Despite pleas for help from the police, little support has been provided to address this.
On a human level, it fills me with joy to return to the community, to see the old friends and break bread with them once more. But the visit is tinged with a sadness. Residents were always clear that the Olympic Games was a pretext – the underlying reason for their eviction was to increase land values and build condominiums for the rich. The land where the houses of residents once stood however lies empty, a testament to the failings of Rio’s Olympic organisers and the damage the event has done to poor communities.
This blog was written by Dr Adam Talbot, a lecturer in Events Management at UWS. This post first appeared on EventRights and is reproduced here with kind permission.
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