Balancing the willingness to take risks, however, is a devotion to mastering detail.  The city has engaged universities in the US and Europe to develop performance measures and training programs in the functions of government.  Every department sets annual goals and is evaluated against them every 90 days, and every individual is encouraged to take train­ing relevant to achieving those goals.  If a department exceeds its goals for the year, every member of that department receives an extra month of wages.  Truly stellar performance is rewarded with two month’s wages.  In a bureaucracy where it is almost impossible to termi­nate an employee, these incentives have proven highly effective.

 

Three major Rio projects in particular represent a revolutionary break with the past that is creating a renaissance becoming more visible by the day. 

 

Bus Rapid Transit

The first is the bus rapid transit (BRT) system, an idea invented in the Brazilian city of Curitiba and now widely imitated. BRTs combine the best features of a train - pre-ticketing, operation on dedi­cated roads that bypass traffic, boarding only at raised platforms - with the low cost of buses.  Rio introduced its first BRT line in 2014 and second one in 2016.  A third line is scheduled to open in time for the Olympics.

 

The lines are managed from a central Operations Center, which closely controls the 400-bus network that currently serves 600,000 riders per day and is expected to serve 1.5m riders at 140 stations by the end of 2017.  All buses are equipped with GPS that feeds a mobile data system transmitting data every 20 seconds including video from the inside of buses.  They monitor every bus on every route, both express and local, to maintain proper schedules. Two staff members monitor social media at all times.  They respond quickly to complaints and share useful feedback with the network’s manager, because it identi­fies problems that their other monitor­ing systems do not reveal. 

 

The impact on ordinary Rio residents has been profound.  Commuting times and costs have plummeted, with big impacts on the labor mobility and take-home pay for the working poor and middle class.  

 

Knowledge Squares

 The centerpieces of digital inclusion in Rio are the Nave de Conhecimento or “Knowledge Squares.”  A typical Square consists of a ground floor set of workstations in rooms dedicated for very young children (tablets) to school-age kids (PCs used largely for gaming) to an online education room for adults.  A digital gallery in another room displays information on the Olympics, on the neighborhood, and fun stuff like a Surface table with Google Earth access. 

 

The upper floors may be computer labs and classrooms, video production suites or local radio stations.  English-language classes are popular: the Squares teach English using an in-room moderator who motivates and coaches the students while a Canadian or American teacher comes in over Webex in an arrangement funded by the Sequoia Foundation in the US.

 

The plan for the Knowledge Squares predated the World Cup and Olympics, but these events have been big drivers of their expansion.  Cisco is managing the technol­ogy for the facilities while Embratel provides the connectivity.  They are supporting the educational initiative because the lack of incoming talent to their organizations is seen as a major risk.  Cisco will introduce Cisco Academy training, with a goal of training hundreds of low-level network admins to volunteer for the Olympics and gain employment thereafter. One Cisco strategy is to install Telepresence systems in all of the Squares and to use them to connect citizens to the Games, with interviews with star athletes and political leaders brought into the Squares.  After the Games, this network will be used to connect citizens in the Squares with govern­ment for the delivery of services. 

 

Porto Maravilha

Rio is redevelop­ing its former port district in the downtown core, which had decayed significantly over past decades. The total project is expected to take 50 years, with all the infrastructure work completed in the first 15.

 

All new buildings must have environ­mental certification and construction materials and practices must meet green stand­ards.  A massive tree-planting program will add materially to Rio’s green space.

 

Some of the develop­ment is what you would expect: high-rise condos as well as office buildings such as the Brazilian HQ of Loreal and a 3-km-long prome­nade offering access to an art museum, science museum and aquarium.   The most revolutionary aspect of the project, however, concerns its relations with a favela or slum that is at the heart of the derelict port and where a large low-income population lives. 

 

In a typical redevelopment project anywhere, the poor would be shoved aside to make room for the rich.  In the Port district, the favela is excluded from the redevelopment zone, so it will not be directly threatened by new construction. Because the favela is of such long standing, more than half of residents own their homes despite their poverty.  The city has decided to offer debt forgiveness for any building owners that reno­vate derelict property and put them into use.  Many small touches also make a difference: the project consults with residents on where they would like healthcare and other public facili­ties located and asks for input to design decisions.  Most significant are the skills training programs that are being offered to residents to prepare them for construction and other work in the redevelopment. Career counseling, promotion of micro and small business creation, and public campaigns for volunteer clean-ups and dengue fever reduction are building civil society. 

 

Such policies mark a revolutionary break from the past and contribute to a renewal of a city that was once the political capital of the nation.  

<<<Back: Planning for a Disruptive Future

ICF Web Site