Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M. ARCH
Date
Fall 10-1977
Keywords
Latin America, Brazil, Rio de Janerio, Architecture, Urban Design, Urban Spatial Structure, Upper Income Class Housing, Elite Residential Housing, Public Services, Infrastructure
Language
English
Acknowledgements
This author wants to acknowledge the contribution given by Peter W. Amato, "An Analysis of the Changing Patterns of Elite Residential Areas in Bogota, Colombia," unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Cornell University, 1968, for the organization and methodology of this study. (pg.1)
Disciplines
Architecture | Urban, Community and Regional Planning
Description/Abstract
This study is about the residential location of the upper-income class in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It focuses on the spatial pattern of this location and its relationship with the characteristics of the natural environment and the availability of public services and facilities.
It shows that Rio de Janeiro's spatial structure up to the nineteenth century was similar to the Latin American Colonial Model: the city developed around the main plaza which concentrated the elite class.
During the nineteenth century, the first elite settlements were formed outside the city center in a spatial pattern which approximated to Hoyt's Sector Model: forming sectors along with the Northwest, South and Southwest directions.
Changes in a functional organization, population growth, enlargement and diversification of the elite and, later on, the availability of public services and facilities promoted those changes and the definite breakdown of the Colonial Model by the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century. The elite then became concentrated along with the South and Southwest directions and did not present significant modifications up to 1970. Although in Rio de Janeiro, those directions were not exclusively or predominantly occupied by the upper class, this spatial pattern was still similar to Hoyt's Model.
Regarding environmental features, in Rio de Janeiro the analysis showed that edaphic and topographic characteristics were not of primary concern to the elite. On the other hand, climate, during the nineteenth century when high temperatures could not be overcome by technology, and more recently beaches, were aspects of the environment guiding the selection of residential areas by the elite.
The investigation of elite residential location in comparison with the evolution of public services and facilities suggested that the first settlements outside the city center occurred independently from them. However, as they began to be installed, the first areas to be serviced were those pre-selected by the elite. In more recent times, although services and facilities became available to most parts of Rio de Janeiro, it was observed that the elite areas remained among the best-serviced ones. Actually, this analysis showed that throughout the city's history, the elite class was able and had the necessary power, in political and market terms, to get private and public investments in the areas it chose for residential location.
Recommended Citation
Zoninsein, Regina Bienenstein, "The Spatial Pattern of Upper Income Class Residential Location in Rio de Janerio, Brazil" (1977). Architecture Master Theses. 26.
https://surface.syr.edu/architecture_mtheses/26
Source
submission
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Additional Information
Typographical errors were corrected by inputter.