Autores: CAHU, T. R. D. ; BEATRIZ, J. B. S. ; IZAGA, F. G.

Since 1940s, the expansion of big brazilian cities has mainly been driven by the development of highways and the increased use of automobiles, with commuting as a key factor in organizing intra-urban spaces (Villaça, 2001). In Rio de Janeiro, at first, urbanization was predominantly concentrated in central areas, expanding afterwards to the suburbs, process facilitated by the railway system, which encouraged settlement near railway stations (Prefeitura do Rio de Janeiro, 2021) (Figure 1).
Rio de Janeiro is divided into five administrative areas, with the south zone, where the beaches are located, having the highest income concentration, while the north zone is much less privileged in financial and urban infrastructure; and, between these zones, the downtown area, that contains most of the city’s jobs. This creates a clear socio- spatial segregation, worsened by a lack of integrated transport and land-use planning and contributes to the ongoing metropolitan expansion and loss of urban density, leading to a predatory territorial expansion model (Magalhães and Izaga, 2017).