Globalization

City of God - 10 years after the film

Tentative 'gentrification'

The first housing blocks were built by the government as part of a program to clear favelas and their residents from Rio de Janeiro's city center and relocate them in the suburbs. Today, Cidade de Deus is home to around 60,000 people. The community is divided into three sections, the Apartmentos, the Quadras and the Caratê. Pictured is a typical street in the Quadra section.

City of God - 10 years after the film

Declining drug trade

Like many favela communities in Rio, Cidade de Deus suffered greatly due to the cocaine boom of the 1980s. For decades it remained under the control of the Comando Vermelho, Rio's biggest drug-trafficking gang and was one of Rio's most violent communities. This changed in 2008 when a pacifying police unit (UPP) was established in the community.

City of God - 10 years after the film

Dusty beginnings

Maria Justo de Jesus has lived in the community since the beginning and runs a small workshop teaching sewing and clothes design. "When I moved here, none of the streets were paved. We'd leave for work with a cloth and a bottle of water, so that when we got out of the community onto a paved street, we'd wash our feet and ankles down from the dust and put on our shoes."

City of God - 10 years after the film

Wheeling and dealing

Cidade de Deus is home to over 1,000 businesses, the vast majority of which are informal and unregistered. Pictured here is Avenida Cidade de Deus, a bustling and vibrant two-kilometer stretch of bars, snack shops, restaurants, mechanics and other small independent businesses, that snakes through the community.

City of God - 10 years after the film

Hopeful startups

Along Avenida Cidade de Deus, 21-year-old Renata is at work in her family-owned snack bar/convenience store. Renata and her family are originally from Sao Paolo, and the store has only been open for two weeks. Since the UPP started their work, Cidade de Deus has slowly been starting to attract investors from outside the community.

City of God - 10 years after the film

Local currency boosts investment

In 2011, a community bank was opened in partnership with one of Brazil's leading commercial banks, Caixa. A local currency, the CDD, was also introduced. The bank offers zero-interest loans of up to 100 reals (about 40 euros) for those who take the loan in CDDs. Loretta Smith works in the CDD community bank, here she displays a five CDD note, worth five reals.

City of God - 10 years after the film

In search of education

Despite several improvements in the last decade, including the massive drop in violence, several serious issues remain. City of God is home to some of Rio's poorest and most marginalized people. The area has no local high school, and further education or work opportunities are extremely low, particularly for young people. Here, two teenagers spend an afternoon playing video games.

City of God - 10 years after the film

Brazil's future soccer stars

Jose de Silva Nacimento (pictured left) is a football coach who heads Charlote Igor, a community football team in the area that receives some funding from Flamengo, one of Rio's most popular teams. "With this project we're trying to steer the kids away from bad influences, crime or drug trafficking."

Author: Sam Cowie | Editor : Martin Kuebler