Brazil

Understanding and improving the Brazilian informal settlements known as favelas will require more information about the slums -- especially in the field of mapping.

A group of Indians from the Amazon attacked a government engineer at a recent meeting where he was discussing a proposed hydroelectric dam on the Xingu River that could displace 15,000 indigenous people and destroy traditional fishing grounds.

In Sao Paulo, Brazil, planners are challenged with untangling traffic jams that stretch for over 120 miles.