Sol Nascente in Brasília is now the second largest favela in Brazil

Located in Brazil’s Federal District, Sol Nascente is the second-largest subnormal agglomeration in Brazil, with 24,441 homes, estimated considering the community’s expansion in recent years.

It is only surpassed by Rocinha (Rio de Janeiro), with 25,742 households, according to preliminary information from the IBGE for the covid-19.

For the 2022 census, the region is divided into 154 census sectors, and 75 census takers are collecting data.

Due to its size and demographic density, it is a challenge for the team to produce a portrait with quality data, contributing to the promotion of public policies.

Those who live there have high expectations that the data will give visibility to the local problems because, despite being 12 years old, the community lacks infrastructure.

The residents face difficulties such as health centers without doctors and a lack of public transportation, forcing children to walk up to four kilometers to go to school.

The region has no lighting, basic sanitation, or treated water.

WHAT ARE SUBNORMAL SETTLEMENTS?

In 1953, the IBGE published the study “As Favelas do Distrito Federal e o Censo Demográfico de 1950” (Favelas of the Federal District and the 1950 Demographic Census), in which it looked for the first time at irregular occupations of publicly or privately owned land for urban housing, with irregular urbanistic standards and lack of public services.

At the time, the so-called “Federal District” was still Rio de Janeiro (the former capital of the Republic), which was already drawing attention due to the growth of irregular occupations.

In 1987, there was a meeting between experts and governments in which the term “subnormal settlements” (AGSNs) was coined.

In 2019, IBGE estimated that there were 13,151 subnormal settlements in 734 Brazilian municipalities, totaling 5.1 million (7.8%) households spread throughout Brazil.

For the 2022 Census, this national territory mapping was improved with high-quality satellite images, contact with municipalities, and fieldwork.

Jaison Luiz Cervi, head of the Social Territories Sector (SETES) at IBGE, explains that subnormal settlements comprise one or more census sectors. There are also non-sectorized subnormal agglomerations (to be sectorized, they must contain at least 50 households).

With information from IBGE