Histórico da representação das favelas cariocas em mapas

Maps, as well as law, are regulated distortions of social territories (Santos, 2001). By analysing Rio de Janeiro’s local maps (notarial records, aerial photographs, urban projects, decrees, tourists maps, participatory maps, digital maps etc.) from 1928 to the current year, especially those of the Cantagalo slum – Pavao hill – area, located between Copacabana and Ipanema’s neighbourhoods –, and crossing their information with the history of the struggle for permanence and rights gradually acquired by residents (from 1907 until now), one can clearly see the gradual change of some Rio de Janeiro’s slums from opaque spaces to bright ones (Santos, 2009). Based on the maps’ analysis, it’s possible to question whether the brightness of some slums happens at the expense of the opacity of others, for the slums without UPP [Police Peacekeeping Unit] end up being removed from the state’s mapping route and the major mapping companies, like Google.Keywords: mapping, law, slum, representation, participation.