RIO: NEE case study

• Location of Rio


  • It is in Brazil, the largest country in South America. It is found on the south east coast next to the Atlantic Ocean.
  • This makes it an ideal location to trade/travel/migrate within South America but also around the world.
• Why is Rio important?


  • Nationally: 5% of Rio’s GDP is earned there in the industrial centre. The main services are banking, finance and insurance.
  • Internationally: it is home to one of the 7 wonders of the world - Christ the redeemer and it hosted the World Cup/Olympics so it draws in tourists. It is also a major port for selling coffee and sugar.
• Favelas


  • Homes are made from items people find like discarded wood, corrugated iron or other rubbish
  • Land is steep which means it is hard to build on and at high risk of landslides
  • Services cannot access them like bin collection
  • They're crowded and lack street lighting meaning crime is high
  • It is illegal and the government could demolish them
• Self-help scheme in favelas

  1. People in the favelas are encouraged by the government to improve their own homes

  2. They are not paid but they're given the building materials for free, like bricks

  3. Houses are now made with brick, tiles and concrete rather than items the people find or mud
• Benefits of self-help scheme

  • Houses are safer for people
  • Houses can be made for easier access to sanitation and electricity improving the quality of life of residents as they'll be less likely to get sick
  • The government also benefit and they will save money by only paying for the materials and not the labour
  • People will also have more pride in their homes so they will be less likely to be involved in crime or littering saving the government more money
  • This money can then be reinvested
• Education in Rio


  • Education is compulsory until the age of 14
  • Over half of students drop out at 14 because parents cannot afford to continue or they are required to work and add to the family income
• Solution for education in Rio

  1. School grants can be provided to the poorest children to help parents pay for school fees and school equipment to keep them in school after 14

  2. Local people are encouraged to volunteer to teach
• Healthcare in Rio


  • Only 55% of Rio have access to health clinics
  • In the west of Rio, the average life expectancy is 45 years old
• Solution for healthcare in Rio

  1. Medical staff take their kits into the favelas

  2. They are able to detect 20 different diseases and treat them
• Access to water in Rio

  • 30% of the population in Rio are not connected to formal sanitation
  • They have no running water or a toilet
  • They will have to drink contaminated water, increasing the risk of disease
  • People then have to take time off work or school due to illness
• Solution for access to water in Rio

  1. 300km of pipes were built meaning that 95% of people had access to clean water by 2014

  2. The number of open sewers decreased

  3. The risk of disease has decreased
• Access to electricity in Rio

  • The favela's do not have formal access to electricity so many steal electricity and set up their own connections
  • This is dangerous and leads to regular power outages
  • With a poor quality connection residents cannot have fridges, washing machines or anything that requires power
• Solution for access to electricity in Rio

  1. 60km of new electricity cables have been fitted

  2. USA donated $2bn for a hydroelectric power plant

  3. Power is more regular so residents pay for it and it and it is also sustainable renewable energy source
• Unemployment rates in Rio

  Over 20%
• With no job

  Families cannot afford basic necessities such as food, water and shelter
• Families cannot afford basic necessities


  They can't send their children to school or pay for medicine
• Informal jobs

  Jobs that have low security, low wages, and irregular wages
• Money earned from informal jobs

  Is not taxed so the government get no money from people working in these jobs
• Government gets no money from informal jobs

  They are less likely to invest in improving the favelas, worsening their situation
• Crime in the favelas

  • Murder
  • Kidnapping
  • Car jacking
  • Armed assaults
• Over 750 of the favelas are controlled by gangs many involved in drug trafficking
• Residents in the favelas experience crime

  They lose money either from items being stolen or broken or from being too scared to go to school/work
• Economic opportunities in Rio

  • police pacifying units (UPPs): In 2013, the pacifying police units were deployed to get control back in the favelas to reduce crime levels and reduce the power of the drug lords. This means people will loose less money and not be scared to go to work or school.
  • The Schools of tomorrow programme is designed to get youth from the poorest and most violent favelas into education for free. This will help the most vulnerable children to learn to read and write in order to secure employment away from gangs in the future and try to break the poverty cycle.
• Water pollution


  55 rivers flow into Guanabara Bay and it carries 200 tonnes of sewage from the favelas
• Water pollution


  • Habitats are destroyed
  • Fishing declines
  • Tourists don't want to travel there
  • Nowhere for boats to dispose and change their fuel so dump it into the Bay
  • Destroys habitats and causes an imbalance in the food webs
• Solution to water pollution

  1. Rio will now fine ships that dump their waste in the bay

  2. Spent $68 million on 12 new sewage works to reduce the amount of pollution entering the bay
• Air pollution


  • Car usage has increased by 40%
  • Streets are very congested as the mountains restrict the ability to build more roads
  • Lots of CO2 is released, this traps in heat in our atmosphere leading to global warming
• Solution to air pollution

  1. Created toll roads that charge people to drive

  2. Marked some of the coastal roads one way during peak times
• Waste pollution


  • The streets in the favelas are narrow and steep meaning that bin lorries cannot enter the favelas to collect rubbish
  • Increases rats and the risk of disease
• Solution to waste pollution

  1. Power plant has been built to burn the rubbish to create energy (biomass)

  2. As long as rubbish is still collected then this is a renewable energy source that can power over 1000 homes
• 2 causes of growth

  • migration
  • natural increase