This month, Designing Ecological Urbanism (DET), a research platform led by Assistant Professor Aziza Chaouni, is presenting an exhibition on the future of the Guaratiba region in Brazil in collaboration with the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

The Guaratiba Biological Reserve is located in the heart of Brazil’s “Rurban” region, where the city and country meet. The reserve’s mangrove forest provides a perfect breeding ground for fish and crabs that are essential to the local economy. Guaratiba is not yet familiar to many who live in Rio de Janeiro, but in the future, this will change.

As the City expands into the region of Guaratiba, what will happen to the mangrove forest? Will it remain healthy? Or will the pressures of urban development destroy a one productive ecosystem? As part of the exhibition, two visions for the region are on display.

Living in the “Ruban”
The future of Guaratiba
Exhibition at Studio-X
Praca Tiradentes, 48
Rio de Janeiro – RJ, 20060-070, Brazil

This project grew out of a partnership established in 2012 when DET and Guilherme Lassance’s Arquilab were awarded the Canada-Latin America and Caribbean Research Exchange Grant (LACREG). This grant has supported a comparative study of peri-urban protected areas, including Rouge National Urban Park in Toronto, Canada, and the Guaratiba Biological Reserve in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As part of this ongoing partnership, DET is developing a digital app that details the research.

DET brings together faculty members from the University of Toronto with allied universities across the world, as well as international experts, NGOs, local stakeholders, government officials, and students to research complex questions on the developing world.  The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro has been a leading collaborator. In May 2013, a team led by Guilherm Lassance came to Canada as part of the study of Rouge Park. That June a team from Toronto visited Brazil and partnered with students there on an intensive research project. The information collected, and the ongoing partnership is producing incredible results.