The one-metre-high wall around the Dona Marta favela, which will cost around £300,000 to build, is one of a number initiatives implemented by the state governor in the hope of halting the uncontrolled growth of the shanty towns.

‘What has happened in Rio de Janeiro over the past two decades has been the passivity of authorities in relation to the uncontrolled growth of the slums,’ state governor Sergio Cabral told the Guardian.

He believes that by controlling the growth of the favelas, city authorities will be able to crack down on drug trafficking and vigilantes.

But critics believe it will further segregate slum-dwellers from the rest of society. ‘This is something that is very similar to what Israel does to the Palestinians and to what happened in South Africa,’ said Mauricio Campos of the Network of Communities Against Violence.

If successful, the redevelopment programme – which includes the wall (set to be finished by the end of the year), 24-hour policing, new houses and a football pitch – will be copied in other favelas.

However, Rio’s environmentalists say that unless the poor are given low-cost housing options, they will continue to build homes on Rio’s surrounding hillsides and encroach into the nearby Atlantic rainforest. Previously, favelados have helped to plant more than four million trees in the forest, which has shrunk by more than 90 per cent since Portuguese settlers arrived in the area during the 16th century.

March 2009