Skip to main content
Navigate back to homepage
Open search bar.
Open main navigation menu

Main navigation

  • Study
    UCL Portico statue
    Study at UCL

    Being a student at UCL is about so much more than just acquiring knowledge. Studying here gives you the opportunity to realise your potential as an individual, and the skills and tools to thrive.

    • Undergraduate courses
    • Graduate courses
    • Short courses
    • Study abroad
    • Centre for Languages & International Education
  • Research
    Tree-of-Life-MehmetDavrandi-UCL-EastmanDentalInstitute-042_2017-18-800x500-withborder (1)
    Research at UCL

    Find out more about what makes UCL research world-leading, how to access UCL expertise, and teams in the Office of the Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation and Global Engagement).

    • Engage with us
    • Explore our Research
    • Initiatives and networks
    • Research news
  • Engage
    UCL Print room
    Engage with UCL

    Discover the many ways you can connect with UCL, and how we work with industry, government and not-for-profit organisations to tackle tough challenges.

    • Alumni
    • Business partnerships and collaboration
    • Global engagement
    • News and Media relations
    • Public Policy
    • Schools and priority groups
    • Visit us
  • About
    UCL welcome quad
    About UCL

    Founded in 1826 in the heart of London, UCL is London's leading multidisciplinary university, with more than 16,000 staff and 50,000 students from 150 different countries.

    • Who we are
    • Faculties
    • Governance
    • President and Provost
    • Strategy
  • Active parent page: The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment
    • Study
    • Active parent page: Research
    • Our schools and institutes
    • People
    • Ideas
    • Engage
    • News and Events
    • About

DPU Working Paper - No. 214

Favelas as an urban institution and COVID-19 in Brazil

Nova Holanda e Morro do Timbau ao fundo

Breadcrumb trail

  • The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment
  • Research

Faculty menu

  • Research projects
  • Current page: Research publications
  • REF 2021
  • Ethics in the built environment
  • Impact at The Bartlett
  • UCL Royal Academy of Engineering, Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Building Design
  • The Building Envelope Research Network
  • UCL Circularity Hub

By Juliano Cavalli de Meira

This study looks into the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Its main objective is to enable an understanding of a favela as a capable urban governance institution. This rationale is made possible through the case study of local initiatives that surged in this city during the crisis, by making use of the complexity framework applied to social sciences.

In the analysis of this case, three elements are central to the way one understands urban equality throughout the pandemic in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. The first element is the formal government institution’s failure which constrains and enables grassroots responses throughout the pandemic. The second element is a widespread condition of inadequate access to health and sanitation for the people living in favelas.

The last element comes from the bias and prejudices that portrays favelas as a threat and perceived by formal institutions as something that must be fixed. This understanding leads to a contribution to the academic and societal understanding of urban settings in Brazil. Despite its findings are somewhat limited to the specific context of favelas in Rio de Janeiro, this paper argues for future studies to be developed under the complexity framework to enrich theoretical and societal understanding of favelas and cities.

Download the paper

Image credit: Douglas Lopes / Redes de Desenvolvimento da Maré. 

UCL footer

Visit

  • Bloomsbury Theatre and Studio
  • Library, Museums and Collections
  • UCL Maps
  • UCL Shop
  • Contact UCL

Students

  • Accommodation
  • Current Students
  • Moodle
  • Students' Union

Staff

  • Inside UCL
  • Staff Intranet
  • Work at UCL
  • Human Resources

UCL social media menu

  • Link to Soundcloud
  • Link to Flickr
  • Link to TikTok
  • Link to Youtube
  • Link to Instagram
  • Link to Facebook
  • Link to Twitter

University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7679 2000

© 2025 UCL

Essential

  • Disclaimer
  • Freedom of Information
  • Accessibility
  • Cookies
  • Privacy
  • Slavery statement
  • Log in