By comparison, last year’s winners included businessman and philanthropist Eike Batista, the animated film “Rio” creator Carlos Saldanha, and Tião Santos, the trashpicker discovered by artist Vik Muniz for his film Wasteland.
Last month, RioRealblog reported on a new move to manage the city’s social needs, which may augur well for the most problematic aspect of Rio’s transformation. With so much activity and forward movement, one could easily conclude that all is well in the world’s most exciting seaside city.
But herewith is a to-do list for us all (and please do comment, publicly or privately, if you have information, leads, additional questions, or items, contacts, etc.):
Morar Carioca: what are the program’s exact plans, budget, and timeline? What has been accomplished so far, and what remains to be done? Will the goal of bringing all of Rio’s favelas up to standard (urbanizar, in Portuguese) by 2020 be met? How is urbanizar defined? What sort of community participation is occurring? Who’s in charge and who’s checking up on them? What does the Inter-American Development Bank, which funds the program, have to say about it? Is there any coordination with the federal PAC program, responsible for upgrading the favelas Rocinha, Manguinhos, and Complexo do Alemão? And what exactly is the PAC up to? Is there any sharing of methodology or information between these two levels of government? Does the Olympic Committee have any role in the Morar Carioca program?
