Inequality in Curitiba
While in search of a relaxing afternoon, strolling around a beautiful park, I noticed many inequalities evident in the city. Tingui Park itself is a beautiful area, and I was lucky enough to go on a particularly warm, sunny day. Venturing around the park, I noticed a stark and very close contrast between large, rich homes and areas of extreme poverty. As we drove through the park, we passed many large houses surrounded by tall, defensive walls and gates, creating a lovely vision of the parkland area. However, as I began to walk around the park, I realised that very close to this display of wealth, there is an area of obvious poverty.
These photos were taken at a distance as I could not venture nearer by myself, however I have also researched the area online, below are images from Google Maps to show a closer view of the area. This gives an impression of the standard of living people in this area have, which is in high contrast to the nearby houses. What causes these differences? Why are they so close? What makes people wish to move to these areas?
In contrast, the rich citizens live in large houses with high walls, CCTV, barbed wire, and electric fencing. This keeps out burglars, but also creates a sense of segregation and hierarchy.
This map taken from the IPPUC shows this low income area in purple, to the East of the park. It is described as a LOTEAMENTO CLANDESTINO EM REGULARIZAÇÃO, which means it is a clandestine, or secret area, but with regulation. This is the only area like this in close proximity to the park, while the other residential spaces feature large, gated communities. This general area is much less densely populated than central Curitiba, which could be a potential pull factor for people to want to live here. It is well known in Curitiba that the majority of the favelas are situated on the periphery of the city, or in unwanted spaces, such as besides rivers.
