State Forum for Urban Reform of Rio Grande do Sul – FERU

Strengthen and instrumentalize social movements, communities and urban reform entities in Rio Grande do Sul for the struggle for the guarantee and ability to demand the right to the city and to housing in the context of development mega-projects, especially those affecting the city of Porto Alegre, host city to the 2014 World Cup.

– Promote one metropolitan and one state-wide debate on the current urban setting in the state from a housing point of view and put together an agenda for the struggle for urban reform;

– Make violations of the right to the city and to housing more visible, focusing on those stemming from land conflicts and those of an institutional or normative nature;

– Act together with the relevant public organs for the defense, protection and ability to demand the human right to the city and to housing in vulnerable communities;

– Participation in the First Encounter of those Affected by Mega-Events and Mega-Projects in Brazil.

In order to carry out the 2014 World Cup, as well as other development projects, large construction projects took over Porto Alegre and other cities in Rio Grande do Sul. These construction projects have benefited from public resources, along with the “flexing” of norms such as city master plans and the “reinterpretation” of government programs that have been showing up in city territory, contradicting the entire logic of rights, on which urban and housing policy in Brazil is based.

In the case of Rio Grande do Sul, there is the context of three regions aside from the well-known metropolitan area and reflexes of the sporting event in the city. In the southern region of the state, the range of investments directed toward the modernization of the Rio Grande port, along with other extractivist activities, has caused a sudden increase in value of real estate as a consequence of an old and inadequate structure having to take on an increased population in recent years, where the city plan doesn’t work and housing programs kick out the poorest from centrally located areas. In both of these cases there is a process of population dislocation that surpasses city limits. On the western border, there is urban and rural precariousness associated with the decline of populations, who have moved to other regions in search of better opportunities. As a result, there is a migratory movement that “fills” the mountains and the coastline: in the mountains, the main cities absorb this population in risky areas and on the coast, they tend to inhabit areas designated for environmental protections (APP).

The State Forum for Urban Reform of Rio Grande do Sul – FERU is a coalition of entities and social movements that are struggling for urban reform in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its mission is to promote wide-ranging debate on the right to the city, become involved in urban and housing policy, support protests, and create and disseminate an agenda of urban reform in the state.

 

FERU is already a network and is linked to two other urban reform networks. A regional unit, called South Urban Reform Forum, which includes the states of Paraná and Santa Catarina and which is linked nationally to the National Urban Reform Forum.

The activities were organized in three areas: training, information and advocacy. Arrangements were made for regional training workshops; advocating for land regularization of the Morro Santa Teresa communities and support for the Saraí Occupation; visits to communities; continuous updating of the organization’s blog and mailing list; producing FERU material for dissemination; producing a primer on urban reform; and a statewide seminar.