The properties of rent, real estate and urban reform in the contested appropriation of space in contemporary Brazilian favelas

Grounded in the Brazilian context, this paper offers three key contributions to a broader audience interested in planning, urban studies, and informal settlements or favela upgrading in the Global South. First, it engages with and expands upon theoretical debates concerning the role of the state, the market, and the social appropriation of space in 20th-century favelas, aiming to establish a conceptually grounded and empirically informed dialogue with the complexity and heterogeneity of contemporary informal settlements. Second, drawing on fieldwork conducted in the Heliópolis favela in São Paulo, we examine how this settlement diverges both from earlier representations of itself and from prevailing narratives about metropolitan favelas in Brazil. Rather than offering a conventional case study meant to illustrate how broader theory manifests “on the ground,” our research contributes to wider discussions about the diverse characteristics—or “properties”—of contemporary urban informality. Third, while anchored in the historical and geographical specificities of Brazilian favelas, the paper invites broader reflections on the limits and possibilities of rights-based and reform-oriented urban planning in the Global South.