Putting Rio de Janeiro on the map

People of informal neighbourhoods in Brazil have long lived with limited access to facilities.

The future of urban planning may be in Brazil’s second-largest city. But it is not along Ipanema’s glittering waterfront, overlooked by some of the most expensive real estate in Latin America. Nor is it in the Centro district, refurbished for the 2016 Olympics and now the focus of a major urban regeneration plan. To glimpse the future of cities, travel past the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon until you reach the Jardim Botânico neighbourhood, and then look to the hills, where the boundless Rocinha district is perched perilously on the slopes.