Ahead of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, officials in Rio de Janeiro are taking on a massive upgrade project in the city's slums.
It's a dual effort of increasing police presence in the traditionally unregulated favelas and embarking on a broad urbanization program.
"With the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics on the horizon, authorities are engaging in two simultaneous battles to improve life in the favelas: implementing "pioneering" pacification schemes in the slums and splashing out billions of dollars remodelling the favelas as part of an urbanisation initiative called Morar Carioca (roughly "Rio Living").
The selection process, which ends next month, will see 40 architecture practices tasked with redesigning 582 inner-city slums that house around 1.2 million impoverished and excluded Brazilians."
FULL STORY: Rio de Janeiro favelas to get facelift as Brazil invests billions in redesign

Florida Considers Legalizing ADUs
Current state law allows — but doesn’t require — cities to permit accessory dwelling units in single-family residential neighborhoods.

HUD Announces Plan to Build Housing on Public Lands
The agency will identify federally owned parcels appropriate for housing development and streamline the regulatory process to lease or transfer land to housing authorities and nonprofit developers.

Conservatives’ Decongestion Pricing Flip-Flop
When it comes to solving traffic problems, the current federal administration is on track for failure, waste, and hypocrisy.

Renewable Energy Overtakes Coal for First Time
Solar and wind power generated close to a third of U.S. electricity supplies in 2024.

Pilot Project Offers E-Bike Rebates in New York State
The program will start in the Village of Ossining with plans to expand in the greater Hudson River region.

Can Geothermal Energy Fuel Hawaiʻi’s Future?
Gavin Murphy, a New Zealand-based consultant with experience in indigenous-led geothermal projects, argues that Hawaiʻi is poised to achieve energy independence and economic growth by respectfully developing its untapped geothermal resources.
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