Green Roofs in the slums of Rio de Janeiro

Micro

Main result 

Urban transformation initiative

Title

Green Roofs in the slums of Rio de Janeiro

Date 2014 - ongoing

Objectives

The main objective of this good practice is to control and mitigate the heat island effect in Arará slum, in Rio de Janeiro, by developing and monitor green roofs, using epiphytes or lithophytes. The idea is to make the area a better place to live and, to achieve it, the initiative based the intervention in working the education of the residents about green roofs, and their capacity to reduce temperatures.

Location  /geographical coverage           

Rio de Janeiro city, Brazil

Organisation  responsible  for good  practice     

The project was started by a local citizen Luis Cassiano Silva, a resident of Parque

Arará, who later searched for technical support and engaged with Bruno Resend.

Stakeholders and partners

Citizens and the community group that lives in Arará Slum.

Short  summary 

Rio de Janeiro has an area of 1.250 km2 which include islands and continental

waters. The municipality has 32 administrative regions along 159 districts.

Regarding the citizens, 19% of population resident in the city lives in slums, or

informal settlements that suffers from the heat island effect, and Arará is one

example of this reality, because there are no open spaces available for planting trees and green spaces, due to the fact that is virtually impossible to build this type of spaces because of the lack of space. To anwers to the problem, Luis Cassiano Silva created the Green Roofs project, that intends to “transform an urban heat island through a refresing and smoothing “green canop” – in effect, making the area a more pleasant place to live”. Therefore, the project encourages residents of Arará slum to install green roofs on their homes, in order to reduce the urban heat effect, as well as to harness the broader social, environemntal, and economic benefits green roofs can bring “from providing thermal protection and improving air quality to mitigating stormwater runoff pollution and saving costs for both residents and cities”.

Impact 

The green roofs were a successful tool, because the performance of the planted

species translated into and “effective decoupling of temperature and thermal

insulation”. In fact, it was noticed that the temperature of the green roofs stayed

the same throughout the day and it were 40% lower than any other regular roofs in the Arará Slum. Also, one of the main impacts of the development of green roofs was the improvement of the local community’s well-being and the reducing of the heat island effect, as well as the temperature in the slum urbanization in general. As a result, the public health gets better and there’s a reduction of health issues.

Innovation

As far as innovation is concerned, it's worth noting that this project began with the desire of an Arará slum resident to make the place where he lives a better place to live. To do this, he sought to involve the community in tackling the heat problem and educate them about green roofs and its benefits. He involved the community in solving a heat problem, that was decreasing the quality of live of residents. He listened to them but has also educated them about the importance and benefits of green roofs.

Lessons learned

The key messages and lessons learned are represented by the significant

improvement of citizens well-being. This shows how well-planned and designed

green roofs can become a feasible solution to improve well-being of the most

vulnerable urban population, especially with the current scenario of global warming and the growth of slums worldwide.

Sustainability    

This good practice can be replicated and become sustainable on a social, economic, and environmental level, and its dissemination will increase the adherence of other slums in Rio de Janeiro. The project presents a solution that lowers temperatures without the need for air conditioning, which makes it sustainable in the long term by reducing electricity consumption. Also, it improves air quality in the slums and reduces energy costs for residents.

 Replicability  and/or  up-scaling

The project has a great potential in terms of expansion because other slums of Rio de Janeiro could implement it as well. However, the replicability of the project strongly depends on the engagement of the local residents, together with technical support. It’s important to have in mind that the use of native species in the development of the green roofs is highly recommended, to avoid invasive species that can bring problems in a long-term, due to the characteristics of the slums. Also, other slums who want to replicate the project could include “non-conventional food plants and other species with local cultural meanings”.

Contact  details

Giuliano Maselli Locosselli

Institute of Botany and University of São Paulo

locosselli@yahoo.com.br

Related Web site(s)

https://una.city/nbs/rio-de-janeiro/green-roof-favela

https://networknature.eu/casestudy/23397