Rio's Slums to See Massive Redesign

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."