- The re-urbanization of the city center of Manaus, Brazil    93 kb by    Magalhaes, Fernanda & Rojas, Eduardo | fmbrasil@centroin.com.br    Short Outline Illegal occupation of land is a major problem in Brazil. This project shows how this problem was faced in the city of Manaus with a project that has improved the environmental and urban quality of a central area of the city. Abstract Illegal occupation of urban land in Brazil is a widespread phenomenon. Slum dwellers are excluded from the attributes of urban citizenship although they provide the labor force required by low productivity urban services needed by cities. Illegal settlements generate multiple problems for the rest of the city. Their solution is of key relevance to the city in general but also provide an opportunity for the social and economic advancement of slum dwellers. The programs required to attain these results are complex and difficult to implement underscoring the challenges countries will face to attain the Millennium Development Goals of reducing the population living in slums. Manaus in Brazil is confronting these problems and provides practitioners sobering lessons. A recent project launched by the Estate Government of Manaus with partial financing from the IADB offers a good opportunity to discuss those issues. Similar to other cities of Brazil that have grown without major planning control, Manaus population increased fivefold between 1970 and 2003. This dramatic growth occurred without land use and infrastructure programs promoting the rapid expansion of the illegal settlements. Some occupied areas are of great environmental fragility, ravines (Igarapes) that are essential for the natural drainage, as it the case analysed here. This occupation results in exceedingly poor living conditions, the almost total blockage of the natural drainage system and negative externalities for the city’s CDB. This high-cost and complex engineering and social project represents a major opportunity to promote: (1) the upgrading of the urban and environmental conditions of the CBD, particularly by the construction of an urban park;(2) the provision of infrastructure and the solution of the environmental problems with drainage and rehabilitation of the Igarapes; (3)the improvement of housing conditions on by the development of in-fill public land nearby with significant impact over the city as whole; (4) the promotion of social inclusion and spatial integration; (5) the opportunity to test legal and urban instruments that could eventually be used in other similar situations. Keywords Environmental challanges Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2005: Making Spaces for the Creative Economy   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper