Urban planning in an age of fear - The case of Rio de Janeiro

The aim of this paper is to discuss the challenges for urban planning and management in Rio de janeiro in the context of the socio-political fragmentation of urban space. First, the paper profiles the recent evolution of Brazil's economy, in order to make sense of the worsening exclusion and violence in Rio de Janeiro since the 1980s. Against this background, the paper analyses recent trends in terms of socio-spatial segregation and social conflict (the formation Of enclaves dominated by drug trafficking organisations, and the self-segregation of the elite as a response to the increasing fear of crime and violence), and considers possible paths to the necessary and urgent integration of urban planning and management on the one hand, and public safety policies and strategies on the other.