Paper 2 - Rio

Question 1

Where is Rio located?

Answer 1

Rio is located on the South-East coast of Brazil.

Question 2

Give 3 reasons that Rio is of international importance.

Answer 2

Reasons of international importance includes:
- Hosted the 2016 Olympic games
- Hosted the 2014 World Cup
- Has Christ the Redeemer, one of the 7 wonders of the world
- Acts as an international hub with 5 ports and 3 airports
- Contains a major port which exports mainly sugar, iron ore and coffee

Question 3

Give 3 reasons that Rio is of national importance to Brazil.

Answer 3

Reasons of national importance include:
- Presence of important universities and research centres
- Brazil’s 2nd most important industrial centre, producing 5% of Brazil’s GDP
- Service industries including banking, finance and insurance
- Manufacturing industries including pharmaceuticals, clothing, furniture and processed goods
- Cultural capital of Brazil

Question 4

What social opportunities did urban growth create for Rio?

Answer 4

Healthcare services are much better in Rio than in rural areas. Vulnerable people have better access to emergency services and vaccinations.
Primary and secondary education allows 95% of children aged 10+ to be literate, considerably higher than the national average.
Over 90% of the city has access to a mains water supply since the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics.
Despite power cuts, energy provision is much more reliable in Rio than in the surrounding rural areas.

Question 5

What economic opportunities did urban growth create for Rio?

Answer 5

Rio is one of Brazil’s most important industrial cities.
The ports which export coffee, sugar, and iron ore create many jobs.
The largest steelworks in South America is located in Rio - Sepitiba Bay.
The service sector of Rio’s economy rapidly grows to meet the demand of migration.

Question 6

What are the 4 social challenges in Rio?

Answer 6

Social challenges:
- Healthcare
- Education
- Water supply
- Energy supply

Question 7

What percentage of Rio’s population do not have access to a family health clinic?

Answer 7

45% of Rio’s population do not have access to a family health clinic.

Question 8

Give 2 reasons to explain why the levels of school enrolment in Rio is low.

Answer 8

Reasons include:
- A shortage of nearby schools
- A lack of money and a need to work
- A shortage of teachers
- Poor training for teachers

Question 9

What percentage of Rio’s population do not have access to a running water supply?

Answer 9

12% of Rio does not have access to a running water supply.

Question 10

How much water is lost in Rio? How is it lost?

Answer 10

37% of water is lost. This is through leaky pipes, fraud, and illegal access.

Question 11

What did Rio do to help solve the issue of healthcare?

Answer 11

Authorities sent health kits to favelas, such as Santa Manta, with a population of 8000 and 13km away from the nearest hospital. Health kits allowed the residents to treat basic ailments which improved the life expectancy dramatically.

Question 12

Give 2 ways in which Rio attempted to solve the issue of education.

Answer 12

Solutions included:
- Encouraging volunteering in schools
- Giving school grants to poor families to keep their children in education
- Making money available for free lessons in various skills
- Opening a private university in Rochina

Question 13

How did Rio try to solve the problem of water supply?

Answer 13

Between 1998 and 2014, 300km worth of new pipes were built.
By 2014, 95% of the country had a running water supply.

Question 14

Give 2 ways in which Rio attempted to solve the issue of energy supply.

Answer 14

Solutions include:
- Installing 60km of power lines
- Building a new nuclear power plant
- Developing a new hydroelectric plant, estimated to increase electricity supply by 30%, but costing $2 billion.

Question 15

What are the 3 economic challenges present in Rio?

Answer 15

Economic challenges:
- Unemployment
- Informal economy
- Crime

Question 16

What is Rio’s unemployment rate?

Answer 16

20% on average of Rio is unemployed.

Question 17

Why is the informal economy a problem for Rio?

Answer 17

The government is not aware of this work, so they do not recieve tax revenue from people working in the informal economy. Informal economy jobs are often hand-payed meaning workers do not have insurance or protection.

Question 18

Roughly how much of Rio’s 3.5 million workers work in the informal economy?

Answer 18

Around 1/3 of workers in Rio do not have a formal employment contract.

Question 19

What did Rio do to attempt to reduce unemployment?

Answer 19

The local government used education to reduce the youth unemployment rate, such as the Schools of Tomorrow programme as well as providing courses for adults who have temporarily left education.

Question 20

What did Rio do to attempt to reduce crime?

Answer 20

In 2013 Pacifying Police Units were established to reclaim favelas from drug trafficking.
Police have taken over Complexo de Alemao and 30 smaller favelas, which used to be heavily crime-dominated.

Question 21

What are Rio’s 3 environmental challenges?

Answer 21

Environmental challenges:
- Air pollution (Traffic congestion plays a big role in it)
- Water pollution
- Waste pollution

Question 22

How many people die per year due to air pollution related issues?

Answer 22

Around 5,000 people a year die due to air pollution related issues.

Question 23

Give 2 reasons why traffic congestion is a problem in Rio.

Answer 23

Reasons include:
- Roads can only be built on flat, coastal lowland, Rio is surrounded by many steep mountains, making main transport routes very congested
- Tunnels need to be built through mountains to connect different parts of the city
- The number of cars has grown by 40% since the last decade
- High crime rates mean people prefer to travel by car

Question 24

Where does most of the water pollution end up in Rio?

Answer 24

Most water pollution in Rio ends up in Guanabara Bay.

Question 25

Give 3 sources of water pollution in Rio.

Answer 25

Sources of water pollution include:
- 55 rivers leading to the bay are polluted
- Open sewers in the favelas
- Oil spills from the Petrobras oil refinery
- Ships discharge fuel into the bay due to a lack of proper disposal facilities

Question 26

How many tonnes of raw sewage get poured into Guanabara Bay each day?

Answer 26

Over 200 tonnes of raw sewage gets dumped into the bay every day.

Question 27

How many tonnes of industrial waste gets into Guanabara Bay each day?

Answer 27

Over 50 tonnes of industrial waste ends up in the bay each day.

Question 28

Give 2 ways in which Rio attempted to solve traffic congestion.

Answer 28

Methods included:
- Expansion of the metro system under Guanabara bay into the South Zone and Barra da Tijuca
- New toll roads into the city centre
- Making coastal roads one way during rush hours to improve traffic flow

Question 29

Give 2 ways in which Rio attempted to solve water pollution.

Answer 29

Methods included:
- 12 new sewage plants built since 2004, costing $68 million
- Giving ships fines for illegally discharging fuel into the bay
- 5km of new sewage pipes installed around badly polluted areas

Question 30

What did Rio do to attempt to solve waste pollution?

Answer 30

A power plant was set up near the University of Rio which burns 30 tonnes of rubbish to produce enough electricity for 1000 homes.

Question 31

What did the Favela Bairro Project do to improve life in the favelas? Give 3 details.

Answer 31

Methods:
- Paved and formally named roads
- Access to water supply and drainage system
- Hillsides secured to prevent landslides
- Building of new health, leisure and education facilities
- Installation of a cable car system along Complexo de Alemao hillsides, residents given 1 free return ticket per day
- Access to credit for residents to buy materials to improve housing
- 100% mortgages for people to buy their homes
- A Pacifying Police Unit to reduce crime

Question 32

In what ways could the Favela Bairro Project be considered a failure? Give 3 details.

Answer 32

Points of failure include:
- Budget of $1 billion not enough for every favela
- Newly built infrastructure not being maintained
- Residents lack skills and resources to make repairs
- More training is needed to improve literacy and employment
- Rise in rents cause gentrification