A construção do cotidiano da ocupação Barra Vela na metrópole do Rio de Janeiro: características, desafios e perspectivas

Abstract

The present work aims to contribute theoretically to the discussion of the consequences of the urban space production model in Brazil. One of these consequences is the necessity of occupation to guarantee the right to housing, due to restricted access to formal housing in the city of Rio de Janeiro. In this sense, the work focuses more specifically on the urban occupation known as Barra Vela, located in the Ramos neighborhood, near Avenida Brasil. Barra Vela is organized in a particular way regarding the rules created within it and the physical structure of the dwellings. The transformation, the new logic of space, the presence of the subjects, and the daily practices of the inhabitants reveal a distinct form of popular housing. This work aims to understand how the Barra Vela occupation has been and continues to be organized as a collective of residents through bibliographic surveys, semi-structured interviews, field visits, photographic records, sketches, and observations from within. The findings indicate that Barra Vela originated in the early 1990s through the occupation of an urban void left by a candle factory by low-income populations, mostly from the Maré favela. The research found that the residents of the analyzed occupation experience a process of urban spoliation in the face of housing production and maintenance.