Brazil to Improve Urban Management and Housing in Vulnerable Areas of Recife

$260 million IDB loan will also help mitigate natural disaster risks

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a $260 million loan to Brazil to improve housing in vulnerable neighborhoods of Recife. The city is the country's ninth largest, and also one of its most threatened by climate change because of its geography. The program aims to give low-income communities more access to infrastructure, urban facilities and social services.

Another objective of the loan is to mitigate landslides risks on the city's hillsides, as well as flooding danger in areas near the Tejipió, Jiquiá, and Moxoto rivers. To achieve this goal, it will finance integrated urban development and containment works. The program will also build macrodrainage infrastructure and linear parks to serve as buffers against floods.

To increase the municipal government's urban planning tools, the program will launch an integrated system for managing urban, housing, and social and environmental data. It will also structure an urban risk monitoring system for the municipality.

As the population of Recife has boomed, a lack of urban management tools and scarce affordable housing for low-income groups has led to disorganized and informal urban planning, which this program is designed to help remedy.

The loan will benefit low-income residents in vulnerable areas of the city, including 4,000 families living in flood- and landslide-prone areas. These families, 59% of which are headed by women, will be resettled under the program.

Vulnerable areas make up an estimated 20% of the total surface area of Recife and 30% of its built-up area. Additionally, 56% of homes in the city have no connection to the sanitary sewer system, and 10% have no drinking water.

According to the calculations of the Local Social Housing Plan, the city has a 71,160-home housing deficit. A further 57,329 homes have defective land titles, 13,198 are overcrowded, and 52,408 are located in flood-prone areas. Recife is the Brazilian capital most threatened by sea level rise, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

The IDB loan has a 23.5-year repayment term and a seven-year grace period.