Invisible favelas

the cartographic production of Rio de Janeiro and the representation of its favelas

Abstract

This article presents the first part of the results of a study on the presence and/ or absence of Rio de Janeiro’s favelas in the city’s cartography. Different data sources were used: research in the municipal archives—including the Rio’s first aerial photographs ever made, cartographic records and infrastructure maps from the 1920s and 1930s; research in building codes; and research on digital cartographic platforms. The aim of the article is to investigate when and how the urban phenomenon of favelas officially appears in the city’s records and to reflect on how this late and inconsistent recognition may have affected the existence of the phenomenon itself, since its lack of official recognition created bureaucratic barriers to public administration actions. The argument of this article is that cartographic production has kept the favela an invisible part of the city and how, especially in recent decades, this invisibility has been a political choice. The article concludes that the choice for invisibility has contributed to these large territories becoming deeply embedded in the city’s urban fabric.