Favelas located in more valued areas are more prone to fires, according to a study by economist Rafael Pucci carried out by Insper, in São Paulo. The researcher analyzed the number of times that São Paulo communities caught fire between 2001 and 2016. The results show that other variables that could increase the frequency of fires, such as poorer infrastructure and the number of people living in the space, do not seem to have relation to the number of times there is fire. However, the study shows that slums located in the most valued areas can have up to twice as many fire occurrences as communities in neighborhoods where the square meter has an average value or below it. The research does not point to a linear variation between the price of land and the occurrence of fires. But there is a considerable increase in the number of cases in the most valued neighborhoods. The comparison was made using the market value of the properties, which is used to calculate the Tax on Urban Property and Territorial Property, but does not correspond to market prices. The hypothesis was also tested based on the Urban Operation Água Espraiada, which began in 2004. In this context, a series of interventions were made by the São Paulo City Hall in the Itaim Bibi region, accompanied by permissions for private developers to build above the normally established limits. . The remodeling affected, according to Pucci’s research, a radius of kilometers where there were 13 favelas. After the intervention in the region, the average price per square meter increased, according to the survey, from 10% below the average in the city to 5% above the average value. In the favelas that remained in the most valued locations after the urban operation, the study pointed to an increase of up to 80% in the risk of these communities suffering from fires. In the article, the author states that the results indicate that “criminal fires can be a manifestation of urban conflicts over land”. Lack of investigation Despite the evidence, Pucci says that it is not possible to be sure that there is intentionality in the causes of the fire. “This correlation exists [valor da terra e frequência de incidentes], does not seem to be explained by structural factors, and there is a story that this could be motivated by freeing up the land where the favela is located,” he said. Another point that draws the researcher’s attention is that this relationship does not seem to apply to public lands. “From a land value threshold, you have a probability that is twice as high for fire. Interestingly, we observe this only for favelas on private land, not on public land,” he added. The possibility of arson in favelas was the subject of a Parliamentary Inquiry Commission opened in 2012 at the City Council. At the time, the report by Agência Brasil analyzed the responses sent by the police stations in the capital of São Paulo to the commission of inquiry. In most cases, no expertise was even carried out to determine the causes of the fire. Even in cases where an expert goes to the affected area, cases are rarely clarified. The responses by the police districts showed that, in the absence of elements that precisely indicate the causes of the incidents, the police investigation tends to assume that the fire originated from a short circuit in the clandestine electrical connections that bring light to the shacks. Guardians of Good More than ten years later, fires continue to repeatedly hit several communities in the capital of São Paulo. At the end of April this year, the Kampala community, in Penha, east of São Paulo, was hit by a fire that affected approximately 50 shacks, leaving around 200 people homeless. A resident of the community for six years, Luciana de Souza Santos said that before this one, another fire had already hit the same place, in 2019. On the occasion, she and other residents founded the Guardians of Good association, which organizes donations for the most vulnerable families. socially. “We went to the neighborhood shops asking for donations of bread and milk to make breakfast. Because the fire was at night, ”she said, about trying to reduce the effects of the fire that time. Luciana says that, due to lack of options, most of the displaced families continued to live in Kampala. “They went back to the same place where the fire happened,” she said. The mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes, visited the favela shortly after the fire. The city government made available an aid card with R$ 1,000 for the affected families and registration in the municipal housing programs. He also asked residents to help contain the expansion of the community in irregular areas. “It’s important that the community maintains, without having further growth,” he said.
Agência Brasil
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