São Paulo's micro-houses keeping homeless families off the streets

The minhocão is 1 of São Paulo's astir celebrated landmarks. An elevated road that snakes its mode done the centre of the city, it weaves done the tightly packed flat buildings to link the eastbound to the west.

The road's authoritative sanction is the Elevado Presidente João Goulart. But radical present similar to telephone it by its nickname, the minhocão, a notation to a elephantine mythical beast that roamed the forests of South America.

As overmuch arsenic it dominates the metropolis with its sheer size, the minhocão besides provides structure for a increasing fig of people.

For underneath the elevated road, much and much stateless families are erecting tents, driven retired of their homes by rising rent and having to slumber rough.

Many others person to marque bash with blankets handed to them by the metropolis council.

And each time gets harder arsenic the wintertime sets in.

São Paulo's authorities estimation astir 34,000 radical are sleeping unsmooth connected the streets this twelvemonth portion figures from the Federal University of Minas Gerais enactment the fig person to 50,000.

The stateless colonisation has soared much than 31% since the pandemic, and the fig of families sleeping unsmooth has risen 111% successful the aforesaid clip period, according to the metropolis council.

With increasing numbers of radical needing help, the accepted strategies of crockery kitchens and shelters are falling short.

So this twelvemonth the metropolis has travel up with a caller impermanent solution: the micro-house.

The archetypal colony of micro-houses was built adjacent to the banks of the Tiete River, successful the neighbourhood of Canindé.

Home to 1 of São Paulo's archetypal favelas, contiguous the tract houses 20 oregon truthful families, each surviving successful a small container that looks akin to a shipping instrumentality and measures 18 sq m.

A quadrate with a playground gives the country a assemblage feel. Children are playing with toys, their parents sitting connected benches and watching on.

The purpose is to physique a full of 1,000 specified villages crossed the metropolis by the extremity of the year, lodging 4,000 people.

"It's a mode of looking aft radical based connected the well-known planetary conception of Housing First, offering lodging arsenic the archetypal measurement successful helping to get them backmost connected their feet," explains Carlos Bezerra Junior, who is the societal payment caput astatine São Paulo City Hall, which is successful complaint of the project.

Daniela Martins, 30, walks maine astir her micro-house.

She shares a treble furniture with her hubby Rafael, 32, and their four-year-old girl Sofia. On the other wall, there's a cot for three-month-old babe Henri.

The country room has a tiny stove, a descend and a fridge, and adjacent to it is simply a elemental bathroom.

The Covid-19 pandemic deed the household hard. Rafael mislaid his occupation arsenic a income adjunct and Daniela's enactment arsenic a cleaner dried up.

They lived successful a structure for 8 months earlier this accidental came up.

"This is simply a spot wherever we are trying to get backmost to surviving successful society, to beryllium quality again, you know?" explains Rafael. "We conscionable privation a mean beingness - truthful galore employers deliberation that radical who unrecorded successful a structure are atrocious people."

The stigma that comes with losing a location makes getting backmost connected your feet that overmuch harder, accidental experts from stateless charities.

"Traditionally, those who are surviving connected the streets are mostly antheral with immoderate intelligence problems and issues with their families," says Raquel Rolnik, prof astatine the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning of the University of São Paulo.

"Now we are talking astir full families surviving connected the street. So intelligibly the contented is lodging - the thought that the metropolis medication is mobilising to code the taxable of lodging is bully news."

But, she says, the micro-houses are not a cleanable solution.

"There is simply a batch of disapproval astir the format, the attraction of tiny homes grouped unneurotic successful the aforesaid place, forming ghettos," she explains.

She criticises the deficiency of municipality readying and thinks amended usage could beryllium made of existing, often abandoned, lodging to marque that habitable too.

Brazil is simply a state infamous for its inequality and immense favelas. But adjacent these slightest desirable spaces - ample areas of makeshift lodging built by squatters - person go unaffordable for many.

"Of people it's escaped for the archetypal ones who squat, but not escaped for the second, for the 3rd oregon for the 10th," says Raquel Rolnik.

"They are besides based connected concern activities - an enactment of providing what is not provided successful the ceremonial market. And this successful the discourse of a full lack of a lodging policy."

São Paulo's largest favela is Paraisópolis (Paradise City successful English), a sanction nonmigratory Eliane Carmo da Silva, who lives successful a cramped country with mould increasing connected the walls, finds ironic.

Her location is successful a small alleyway disconnected the main road, connected the crushed floor, with astatine slightest 2 much floors of informally built flats supra her.

Eliane and her hubby wage $73 (£58) a period for a abstraction ample capable for a treble bed, a cooker and a fridge but small more.

It is much than they tin presently spend to pay. Their granddaughter, Rennylly Victoria, has a bosom information and the small they gain goes connected the medicine that keeps her alive.

While their landlord is understanding, it is getting harder to marque ends meet, adjacent though they person nutrient and assistance from section charities.

"This period we had to usage immoderate rent wealth to bargain her medicines," Eliane explains, adding "I volition ne'er fto her die."

And she volition not fto her ambition dice either. "At the moment, paying rent [means] we don't marque ends meet. Without donations, things would beryllium incredibly difficult," she says.

"My imagination is to person my ain location of people - enactment to gain wealth and support pushing through."