World Cup 2014 Comes to Porto Alegre

Upsidedown World has another fascinating article up (as always) demonstrating top-notch journalism, this time on the impact of hosting a massive international sporting event in a 'developing' country. The author, Michael Fox, uses Porto Alegre's 2014 World Cup plans as a case-study. Fox cites the use of 1990 Barcelona as the gold-standard model for 'development' through sports. Another, smaller but similar, case is Manchester's Commonwealth Games 'development' strategy, which has brought 'investment' to a previously industrialized city, and some argue revitalized the city's urban economy to fit in the 21st century.

The Porto Alegre story is of interest to me, as I recently briefly visited the city in the Brazilian winter of 2009. Winter time in southern Brazil is not that cold when you are a Canadian, but it is at the limit of Brazilian toleration. And thus understandably the city probably was not at its full hustle and bustle, but my very short stay (2 days) not enough to really have any idea about what life is like in Porto Alegre nevertheless was interesting. Porto Alegre was my introduction into Brazil and it is a city not made for tourists in my impression. It is a city that spends most of its time 'working', and not your typical North American/European stereotype of Brazil, and like many other large cities in the South gives off an air of discipline and organization (epitomized by Curitiba, the second largest city in the south and arguably the best organized city in South if not all of the Americas). I wandered around the city in my two days, unsure of safety levels (I was overly cautious because the transition to portuguese left me feeling defenceless), but could see a lot of 'potential' in the eyes of a North American who is conditioned to see 'development' in a particular light.

North Americans like showy restaurants, clean shopping areas, mixtures of old and glass in the architecture, and the opportunities of a 'waterfront' to transform into an ideal playground of the rich but not exclusionary to the aspiring 'middle class'. This is what we see as meaningful development. My limited understanding of Barcelona coming out of the Franco dictatorship and into the 1980s fits this as well, certainly Manchester had many of these qualities. Porto Alegre fits a lot of the necessary conditions - a busy pedestrian area that could be 'upgraded', old market buildings still functional but transforming into restaurants, old port buildings abandoned or underused near the centre, a 'waterfront' (river front) that has open space for building, and an industrialized character that could be polished and 'de-industralized' to leave a shell of its former-self and gutted.

These forms of transformation are so easy to accept for the middle-class mind. These spaces, while not necessarily fully accepting of the middle-class (the condominiums and housing is too expensive, the restaurants too pricey, the most shopping beyond the reach of even the credit card) but are open to you - you can stroll around, have a coffee, buy a stylized tee-shirt. And the visuals inspire the middle-class mind to think of the possibilities of becoming just a little bit richer. If we just focus on the 'middle-class' transformations such as Barcelona can be seen as wonderful and beautiful, and in a society in Spain or England or Canada where the majority walks around with a middle-class mind the perception can easily become 'popular'. Of course we ignore so much even here - particularly the cheap and exploited labour that cleans, cooks, builds, and generally maintains these spaces. This labour does not actually have access to these areas except to 'work' and in privatized spaces, which often accompanies this form of development the homeless, economically displaced, and overall marginalized are simply not welcome.

Porto Alegre did have an economic boom at one point and it does have a more sizable middle class than many Brazilian cities, but I would not want to exaggerate this point. And like most of Brazil its labouring class does not have access to the 'middle-class' mind, though it may aspire at times with delayed purchases of expensive sports shoes or other visible statements of class. It makes me question this 'development' possibility.

I have to admit I'm a football fan, particularly the world cup. having been in Brazil, I know how important the sport is. No corner is left untouched by the sport's influence. Porto Alegre is divided between its two teams Gremio and Internacional and is one of the few places in Brazil where the local teams crowd out the massive São Paulo and Rio teams. The World Cup is HUGE for Brazil and I imagine the excitement cuts easily across class. Is this bad? I wont try to argue that.

I think Fox does a good job getting to the contradictions and difficulties with hosting a massive sporting event that is clearly popular in a 'developing country'. Instead of copying the model of development that is clearly for the elite class, that appeals to the middle class mind, that exists in the privatization of public space that results from the Barcelona or Manchester model, I would hope Brazil creates a distinctly Brazilian-local model. Porto Alegre is the city that created large urban participatory budgeting, it hosted the World Social Forum - it has creatively attempted to 'do things differently' and make the marginalized, in some way or another, a central pillar of their programs. Curitiba is another city that has lead the world in thinking about urban 'development' differently, responding to the local issues and problems, and looking at itself to come up with its own strategies. As a result of the innovating urban planning, Curitiba now has cheap, effective, and efficient mass(ive) transit, accessible urban parks, and large pedestrian areas. Its impact as a 'model' is evident across Southern Brazilian cities, who all now have vibrant pedestrian centres.

What would development in Porto Alegre look like? Instead of building on top of the homes of already economically displaced and/or exploited peoples, they would be the central pillar. Transit and transportation would be built to make life easiest for those who have to move the furthest - the poor and working classes. Public spaces would be opened up, rather than privatized, so that everyone has ownership and contributes to the creation of space. Parks, public cultural spaces, an inclusive waterfront that integrates the environment rather than destroys it, and so on. What does that leave the middle-class mind? Rather than dreaming of being rich and aspiring to the practically unattainable, and being economically exploited all the way along (hundreds of dollars for a marketed shoe made for less than 1 dollar), it would be a space where they too would have the capacity to contribute. Instead of dreaming to be a part of a space already made, they would get the opportunity to create a public space. This model of development might not be a success for the sponsors of the world cup, but it would be a success for the world cup and the city of Porto Alegre.