This 5-year-old article, published by UNESCO, reports that perhaps 1/4 of the residents of Shanghai, China's "city of opportunity," are squatters.
UNESCO Courier
A more recent article, from September 2004, highlights some of China's attempts to crack down on squatters:
Shenzhen Daily
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
1 comment:
Sorry I can't sell you the book directly, but rest assured I'm working on getting my publisher to distribute the book more effectively. In the meantime, perhaps you can have one of your bookstores order it. That might inspire Routledge to take a more active interest in distribution.
As for movies, you've mentioned the two most prominent regarding the favelas. I'd caution, however, that both are fictional representations of favela life. Cidade de Deus (City of God), for instance, is a city housing project, not a favela.
The drug gangs shown in the movie do exist in the favelas, and life in many of the more than 600 favelas in Rio can be dangerous and violent. But the mass of favela residents are not involved in crime. Indeed, favelas are not as dangerous as they're cracked up to be. I lived in a favela for three months and went in and out of many other favelas during my time in Rio, and I never had a problem. I had more run-ins with the cops than I did with the drug dealers.
I'd recommend a short film Walter Salles made a few years back. It's called O Primeiro Dia (The First Day) and was was shot in in favela Chapeu Mangueira, which overlooks the beach at Leme. You might also be interested in some of the music that's come out of the favelas. It's mostly rap and hip hop. MV Bill, who grew up in City of God, is one whose work I particularly like.
If I think of other items, I'll write about them on the blog.
Thanks.
Post a Comment