Volume

13

Issue

1

*Corresponding author

lcteixeiracoelho@prefeitura.rio

Published 26 May 2025

Citation
TEIXEIRA COELHO, L. C.

Rio de Janeiro – portraits and stories of a city that fascinates us. Coleção Estudos Cariocas, v. 13,

n. 1, 2020.

DOI: 10.71256/19847203.13.1.145.2025

The article was originally submitted in PORTUGUESE. Translations into other languages were reviewed and validated by the authors and the editorial team. Nevertheless, for the most accurate representation of the subject matter, readers are encouraged to consult the article in its original language.

Rio de Janeiro – portraits and stories of a city that fascinates us

Rio de Janeiro - retratos e relatos de uma cidade que nos fascina Río de Janeiro – retratos y relatos de una ciudad que nos fascina

Luiz Carlos Teixeira Coelho1*

1Instituto Municipal de Urbanismo Pereira Passos, R. Gago Coutinho, 52 - Laranjeiras, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, 22221-070, ORCID 0000-0002-4466-9772, lcteixeiracoelho@prefeitura.rio

The Carioca Studies Collection has been sharing knowledge and research about the city of Rio de Janeiro for over twenty years. In this relaunch of the journal, we sought to give it an even more multidisciplinary and transversal character, also aiming to address the metropolitan sphere and the interactions of the Carioca metropolis as a global city. The goal? To make this journal a primary reference for academic knowledge about the city of Rio de Janeiro, projecting the Pereira Passos Institute as a think tank and policy maker for urban development, and aspiring to a more global audience by offering all articles in three languages (Portuguese, English, and Spanish).

However, those who have been following recent publications might speculate about the failure of this strategy, since they all hark back to the past and recount historical facts—sometimes anecdotal, sometimes deterministic (but always impressive)—about our city. I do not see this trend as a failure, but rather as a success, and I can justify it!

The study of the past allows us to understand the mistakes and successes of our ancestors and to propose new paths that imply transformations. In this sense, the articles published in this edition provide abundant articulation about public policies adopted in the past, their impacts and consequences, giving us theoretical tools to plan the future of a more democratic and inclusive city.

For example, Pereira (2025) presents the first major project of the Pereira Passos adminis- tration: the opening of Rua do Sacramento (today Avenida Passos), executed in 1903. Rio de Janeiro, a crowded city with a network of streets reminiscent of its colonial downtown, underwent major transformations with the opening of wide avenues and promenades for the new civilized elite proposed by the newly instituted mayor. The author successfully weighs positive and negative achievements, highlighting their significance as a paradigm for subsequent urban reforms. Lessons to be learned point us to the need for reform that includes everyone, without barriers—visible or invisible—to the free circulation of people. The author aptly notes that Avenida Passos retains much of its original plan and buildings precisely because it has maintained a certain popular identity, as the central axis of the pop- ular commercial region known as Saara. Was this the original intention of Pereira Passos? Probably not, but it shows us how to plan and how to think about reforms that adapt the city to all its people, with a variety of uses and broad opportunities for commerce and leisure.

Also in the context of the First Republic, the work of Duarte, Santos, and Lopes (2025) combines Urban History and Geoprocessing to visualize the tram lines that once traversed the streets of Rio. Who has never been curious to glimpse where those tracks ran, which insist on appearing, from time to time, beneath the asphalt blanket of our streets? The authors did an excellent job of georeferencing old maps and conducting historical research on the companies that operated these tracks. By contemplating the maps, we can better understand patterns of land occupation, subdivisions, and the creation of neighborhoods. Through cartographic documents, it becomes possible to understand the formation of the Carioca metropolis and the development of its suburbs, whose central axes depended on public transport. Today, when we talk about the Urban Planning of the fifteen-minute city (where all main activities and services should be within fifteen minutes on foot, by bicycle, or by public transport), perhaps it is necessary to return to the times of the tram (and train, and other mass transport systems) and propose a less sprawling city, free from the fantasies of Modernist Urbanism and its perennial need for the individualized motor vehicle. Mapping the tram lines is about understanding a system that, in its time, functioned effectively. What modes of public transport can we use today to bring people closer together and reduce their daily commutes?

Meanwhile, Carvalho, Strozenberg, and Velasco (2025) present a contextualized analysis of the Rio Orla project, discussing its genesis, controversies, and consequences. It is impossible to dissociate Rio de Janeiro from its beaches, and any public policy for urban development in this city must consider the touristic, sports, and leisure vocation that its kilometers of coastline entail. In this sense, it is necessary to evaluate the Rio Orla project as a public policy implemented in the 1990s, bringing together actors such as the Rio de Janeiro City Hall, the Brazilian Institute of Architects, and the State Government. The requalification of the waterfront was carried out to prioritize pedestrians, sports activities, and the expansion of sandy areas, with kiosks and leisure activities. The work is innovative in using social media, specifically Instagram, as a method to evaluate the impact of this urban project. Through geotagging, it is possible to understand how citizens appropriate those spaces and, with that, assess whether the original project is being fulfilled or if new uses have been established. As the authors aptly state, the Rio Orla project "caught on" among the population. May we learn from them to use the imagery information from social media as additional data in the evaluation of public policies. The old adage says that "the voice of the people is the voice of God." Perhaps nowadays, it is better to say that "the posts of the people are the message of God."

Ferreira (2025), in turn, analyzes the historical processes that led to the occupation of the territory we now call Maré. Her analysis draws parallels to Rio de Janeiro’s urbanization policies in the 20th century and the formation of favelas as a consequence of the housing deficit for the working class. She also tells us about the housing projects implemented in this territory to relocate the region’s most vulnerable communities. The author builds her analysis in light of the concept of the Right to the City, formulated by Henri Lefebvre, and also incorporates the concept of the "non-place," postulated by Marc Augé. By understanding Maré as a non-place, it is possible to critically analyze the precariousness of transport infrastructure, the deterioration of public services, the control of the neighborhood by criminality, and the significant social vulnerability. The impact of the construction of the Linha Vermelha, despite the removal of residents from stilt houses and the allocation of public housing, left Maré even more as a "non-place," creating urban voids disconnected from the city, where drug trafficking and consumption proliferate. More than mere criticism, the article provides a solid basis for understanding the problems that affect the neighborhood and serves as a subsidy for public policies that aim to mitigate them. It draws from the history of its urbanization to propose future transformations that include the territory (and its residents) within the urban fabric, with rights and opportunities.

Finally, Korytowski (2025) recovers an anecdotal fact, in an investigative work worthy of the best detectives: what is the origin of the Oratory of Morro da Providência? This iconic tourist spot, symbol of the First Favela, did not arise—as the author points out—ex nihilo. Nor is it, as the urban legend says, a structure built by the returning soldiers from Canudos. Through primary, iconographic, and textual sources, the author retells the history of the promontory where the oratory stands and posits the existence of an observation post as early as the 18th century, whose original function was related to protecting the colonial capital from foreign invasions. From observation post to chapel, this tourist site teaches us about the vitality of a city and the need to reuse its historical heritage also as a source of development through its touristic vocation!

Fortunately, academic work on Rio does not stop here. This edition also presents a curated selection, by Amaral (2025), of eleven recently published articles, whose spatial focus relates to Rio de Janeiro. Obviously, much more has been written and published about the city, and thus we continue with the flow of publications in this journal. We hope that the articles published in this issue generate the impact they deserve and serve as a source for further research that will help us understand the formation of our city, in order to project it as a global metropolis: advanced, inclusive, and democratic.

References

AMARAL, João Vitor P. do. Curation and critical analysis: a selective review of recent academic production on Rio de Janeiro (until 2025.1). Coleção Estudos Cariocas (Carioca Studies Collection), v. 13, n. 1, Feb. 2025. DOI: 10.71256/19847203.13.1.144.2025.

CARVALHO, Thereza Christina Couto; STROZENBERG, Alberto;

VELASCO, Fabio Carneiro. Rio de Janeiro: beach, kiosks, bicycles, humour and Instagram. Coleção Estudos Cariocas, v. 13, n. 1, p. 134, Apr. 2025. DOI: 10.71256/19847203.13.1.134.2025.

DUARTE, Adriene dos Santos; SANTOS, Claudio João Barreto dos;

LOPES, Renato da Silva. Tracks of the past: a cartographic journey through the tram lines of Rio de Janeiro in 1910. Coleção Estudos Cariocas, v. 13, n. 1, p. 131, Apr. 2025. DOI: 10.71256/19847203.13.1.131.2025.

FERREIRA, Sarah Silva Batista. The production of exclusionary urban space and the Right

to the City in Complexo da Maré. Coleção Estudos Cariocas, v. 13, n. 1, p. 136, Apr. 2025. DOI: 10.71256/19847203.13.1.136.2025.

KORYTOWSKI, Ivo. The mystery of the oratory at the top of Morro da Providência, in Rio de

Janeiro. Coleção Estudos Cariocas, v. 13, n. 1, p. 139, May 2025. DOI:

10.71256/19847203.13.1.139.2025.

PEREIRA, Nelson de Paula. Sacramento Street (1903): reforms and improvements in light of the Passos Reform in downtown Rio de Janeiro. Coleção Estudos Cariocas, v. 13, n. 1,

p. 128, Feb. 2025. DOI: 10.71256/19847203.13.1.128.2025.

About the Author

Dr. Coelho is the current Editor-in-chief of the Carioca Studies Collection. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Geomatics Engineering (Military Institute of Engineering), a Master of Sciences in Informatics (Federal University of Amazonas) and a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), with teaching certificates in Mathematics and Geography. He is a civil servant currently working at the Municipal Institute of Urban Planning Pereira Passos (IPP) as researcher, and professor at the Rio de Janeiro State University. He is also an associate researcher of the Urban Engineering Post-Graduate Program of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. In this field, his main interests are Digital Image Processing of Remote Sensors (for applications in Photogrammetry and Image Analysis), Digital Surface Modeling, and Multipurpose Land Cadaster. Parallel to the aforementioned background, also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology (Egmont Machado Krischke Seminary and United College of Vitória) and a Doctorate in Liturgy (Sewanee: the University of the South). Born in Brazil, he is also a citizen of Portugal and Spain and a member of ACEBRA (Asociación de Científicos Españoles en Brasil). Alternative Spellings: Luiz Carlos Teixeira Coelho or Luis Carlos Teixeira Coelho. Website: www.teixeiracoelho.com

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, L.C.T.C.; methodology, L.C.T.C.; software L.C.T.C.; validation, L.C.T.C.; formal analysis, L.C.T.C.; investigation, L.C.T.C.; resources, L.C.T.C.; data curation, L.C.T.C.; writing—original draft preparation, L.C.T.C.; writing—review and editing L.C.T.C.; visualisa- tion, L.C.T.C.; supervision, L.C.T.C.; project administration, L.C.T.C.; funding acquisition, L.C.T.C.. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Conflicts of interest

The author declares no conflicts of interest.

About Coleção Estudos Cariocas

Coleção Estudos Cariocas (ISSN 1984-7203) is a publication dedicated to studies and research on the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro, affiliated with the Pereira Passos Institute (IPP) of the Rio de Janeiro City Hall.

Its objective is to disseminate technical and scientific production on topics related to the city of Rio de Janeiro, as well as its metropolitan connections and its role in regional, national, and international contexts. The collection is open to all researchers (whether municipal employees or not) and covers a wide range of fields — provided they partially or fully address the spatial scope of the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Articles must also align with the Institute’s objectives, which are:

1. to promote and coordinate public intervention in the city’s urban space;
2. to provide and integrate the activities of the city’s geographic, cartographic, mono- graphic, and statistical information systems;
3. to support the establishment of basic guidelines for the city’s socioeconomic develop- ment.

Special emphasis will be given to the articulation of the articles with the city’s economic development proposal. Thus, it is expected that the multidisciplinary articles submitted to the journal will address the urban development needs of Rio de Janeiro.