Brazil climate adaptation focuses on housing in favelas

In Brazil, improving housing in favelas and peripheral areas is being identified as a critical strategy for climate change adaptation. Investing in dignified housing serves as essential infrastructure to protect vulnerable populations from extreme weather events, such as intense rainfall and high winds.

Effective interventions include reinforcing roofs and walls, implementing community drainage through stone channels and vegetated ditches, and stabilizing slopes with light containment and native planting to prevent erosion. These practical, low-cost measures aim to reduce material and human losses in areas prone to landslides and flooding.

Research indicates that urban expansion in Brazil is characterized by deep socio-spatial inequalities. Rather than a simple lack of planning, urban issues stem from socioeconomic processes and institutional practices that push significant portions of the population into environmentally fragile areas, such as hillsides and floodplains. This exclusionary urbanization model exacerbates risks related to urban drainage and environmental vulnerability.