asfaltização

An enterprising Rio de Janeiro favela resident has created a hotel in Pereira da Silva, a favela that is above Rua Pereira da Silva in the the middle class neighborhood of Laranjeiras, according to this Reuters report.

While this may bring money to the favela, it's part of a process that favela dwellers call asfaltização--the asphalt world coming to the informal world of the favelas. It's the favela version of gentrification--and some feel that it does not bode well for the future of the favelas. After all, if five people stay at the hotel for $15 a night, it would only take two nights for the hotel owner to earn more than what my landlord in Rocinha charged for a whole month.

I'm not against individual gain, but given that math, it may be tough for favelados to keep their homes.