The Complexo do Alemão, a 300ha sprawling neighbourhood in Rio's North Zone, has since July 2011 an additional transport system: a cable car that links five of its hills. The system, already used for connecting communities in Medellín and Caracas, is the new black among city planners. But does it work for the community? I went to Complexo do Alemão to find out.
First thing I got to know about the Complexo do Alemão is that it is far more populated than what statistics say. My guide Mariluce, a local resident and a census worker gave me a glimpse: "there are 130,000 dwellings in the Alemão.
An average number of 3 people per family household would result
400,000 residents but there are far more people per household than that.
In any case, the official estimated population of 60,000* is far from
reality."
"See?" Mariluce says, "the stations are all at the hilltops and that's
an issue. Nothing is under your door here.
We have to walk a lot, so when possible we do it downhill. There are
already minivans and motorcycle taxis bringing us to the transport hub.
There is really no need to make the steep climb to the cable car. We use
the cable car for the return trip home when it is an easy stroll
downhill."
But I completely get Mariluce's point: transport was not a pressing matter at the Alemão. According to her, there is only one primary school for the whole community and no
secondary school. There are no proper public squares and generally, very few places where the community can get together. This
is outstanding especially since new space has been cleared around the cable car infrastructure.
"Here at the Complexo the only buildings allowed next to the stations are the UPPs."
The
Complexo has 8 UPPs, 5 of them at the cable car stations. The plan is
to include schools, health care and leisure activities (UPP Social)
around the UPPs. Mariluce is very skeptical that this will ever happen.
Is the cable car project still a meaningful one? Very much so. Although only 30% of the residents uses it, it has become a major weekend attraction
bringing up to 7,000** tourists per day. With a return fare of R$10 for
non-residents, the cable car is a good source of income but more
importantly: it brings tourism to the community which means increased security, additional revenue (if only more facilities were built!) and social pressure for improvements.
Having said this, the community feels that, for now, they haven't benefited so much from the cable car and that it would have been far more meaningful to invest the money in improving the sanitation system, which is still in many parts an open sewer. The communities set to receive the next cable cars, such as Rocinha, are fighting the project on similar grounds. They allege that basic sanitation is the priority, followed by an efficient rubbish collection plan. No one who has been to the communities can actually disagree on that: an improved transport system is a great thing but there are other, more important issues to be addressed first.
About
Cable Car (Teleférico) by Odebrecht Transport, operated by Supervia
Stations: Bonsucesso, Adeus, Baiana, Alemão, Itararé/Alvorada and Palmeiras
Opening times: Mon-Fri 6am-9pm, Sat, Sun & holidays 8am-8pm
Architect: Jorge Mauro Jáuregui at Atelier Metropolitano
Guide via Guia das Favelas
"Conquering Complexo do Alemão" / The Economist / Dec 2nd 2010
"Cable Car Still a Source of Controversy" / Rio on Watch / Jan 3rd 2014
"Rocinha Says No to Cable Car" / Rio on Watch / July 25th 2013
Pictures by PS
Notes
*Demographics by the Instituto Pereira Passos
** O Globo figures
I met Mariluce at Bonsucesso, the first cable
car station at the bottom of the hill and the connection to the suburban rail and bus network. We took the cable car to the last station and walked our way down.
 |
| Bonsucesso Station |
There
are 6 stations linking a total distance of 3.5km. It takes 16
minutes to reach Palmeiras, the last station. The system consists of
152 gondolas, each taking up to 10 people. The project cost was
R$210 million (approximately US$87 M / €63 M) and was built with PAC resources (Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento / Growth Acceleration Program) in partnership with the federal and state governments.
 |
| The steep road to Adeus Station |
Apparently not even the free cable car ride is a strong enough reason for doing the 30-minute uphill walk to the station. Each resident gets a free return
ticket daily and further trips for R$1; this is cheap compared to the
regular fare on bus (R$ 2.75), train (R$ 3.20), tube (R$ 3.50) and boat (R$
4.80).
"Certain areas around the cable car structure would be great for cultural / social
centres but the prefeitura person liaising with the cable car company fears that a
one-storey construction would soon turn into a multi-storey one,
compromising the safety of the cable car. So rather than doing something out of this opportunity, they do nothing and guess what happens? The
place becomes a waste dump," explains Mariluce.
How
about the area around the stations? The Colombian city of Medellín has
built libraries, vaccination centres,
schools and parks around the Metrocable stations, with a very positive social impact.
 |
| UPP at Alemao Station |
 |
| UPP at Palmeiras Station |
The UPP or the Unidade de Policía Pacificadora (Pacifying
Police Unit) is a program created in 2008 in the state of Rio to reclaim
territories previously controlled by gangs of drug dealers. UPPs are
established after the territory is "pacified" and the BOPE, Rio's elite
police force, has left. "Pacification" doesn't necessarily happen smoothly.
 |
| Stalls at Palmeiras End Station |
 |
| Waste spread in Rocinha |
About
Cable Car (Teleférico) by Odebrecht Transport, operated by Supervia
Stations: Bonsucesso, Adeus, Baiana, Alemão, Itararé/Alvorada and Palmeiras
Opening times: Mon-Fri 6am-9pm, Sat, Sun & holidays 8am-8pm
Architect: Jorge Mauro Jáuregui at Atelier Metropolitano
Guide via Guia das Favelas
"Conquering Complexo do Alemão" / The Economist / Dec 2nd 2010
"Cable Car Still a Source of Controversy" / Rio on Watch / Jan 3rd 2014
"Rocinha Says No to Cable Car" / Rio on Watch / July 25th 2013
Pictures by PS
Notes
*Demographics by the Instituto Pereira Passos
** O Globo figures
