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Rural to Urban migration & Urban improvement schemes - LEDC
Many people have moved from the countryside to live in the cities of Brazil.
What makes them migrate?
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Push factors
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Pull factors
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Rainfall is low in many areas of north-east Brazil. Water supply is unreliable.
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Chance of a regular wage
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In last 50 years, over 160,000 people displaced by large dam projects
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Reliable water supply
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Many people live in poverty in rural areas
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Ability to send children to school
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Poor healthcare and education provision
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Access to healthcare
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Farm workers receive very low wages
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‘Bright lights'. Entertainment/things to do
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What is the impact of outward migration on the communities left behind?
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Population structure alters, with older people left behind as younger people head for the city
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Food insecurity increases as fewer young people available to tend the land and grow enough food for the local population
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Land becomes infertile as less land is cultivated for agriculture
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Weakening of local culture and language, as local population decreases due to outward migration an falling birth rate
Life in the Favelas of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro
Typical sites
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Steep, unstable hillsides, prone to landslides
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Marshland
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Under motorway flyovers
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Next to rubbish dumps or contaminated land
Conditions:
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Poor housing: Simple one-roomed shacks made out of scrap materials. Crammed together.
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Sanitation: No clean running water. Human waste disposed of all around housing.
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Disease: Spreads quickly such as dysentry and typhoid. Infant mortality rates high.
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Employment: Wages are low. Informal employment. Long journey to work.
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Education: Few formal school. Young children work on steets to earn money.
What is the impact of inward migration on the cities?
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Overcrowding in Favelas as space is at a premium.
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Increase in crime as people are unable to gain employment and earn money
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Growth of unplanned, illegal squatter settlements
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Increase pressure on roads, railways and infrastructure. People tap into electricity supplies illegally
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Land becomes more unstable as pressure increases on the land, leading to increased risk of landslides
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Increase in chance of disease spreading as more people lead to more unhygenic conditions for favela dwellers
Improving quality of life: The Chingapura Project, Sao Paulo
Self-help or ‘sites and services' schemes
In the Diadema favela, the authorities chose a scheme costing $30 million. The aim was improve the quality of life for 80,000 people.
The advantage of the scheme is that it can be done in stages, they can improve local skills, create a community spirit and as the cost is relatively cheap, more houses can be provided. The success depends on the motivation of local people and appropriate building materials.
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Groups of people are encouraged to help build their own homes. Each group will do basic work such as digging ditches to take the water and sewerage pipes.
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The local authority provide breeze-blocks and roofing tiles, and the group provide the labour.
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The money saved can be used by the authorities to provide amentities such as electricity, clean water supply, tarred roads and a community centre.
D.Drake 2010
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