favela chic

Now, the real estate market is booming in these favelas. Middle-class Brazilians have discovered the slums as a cheap housing alternative. They are also accompanied by an influx of foreigners, most of whom come from the crisis-ridden countries of Southern Europe. Many of the newcomers head to Rio to build an entirely new life for themselves.

Cantagalo is now home to Spaniards, Italians, Argentineans and an Australian. In the neighboring favela of Pavão-Pavãozinho, a prominent immigrant from Germany has also found a place to live: the former senator of the interior in the city-state of Hamburg, Ronald Schill, who was once called “Judge Merciless” for his harsh rulings. Until recently, he was living in an apartment on the Copacabana. Now, he has purchased a small house in the favela.

“Rents and purchasing prices are lower here than down below,” he says as he points to the asphalt jungle at his feet. It’s primarily the favelas in the southern zone of the city that attract the gringos. These areas are usually only minutes from the beach and offer some of the best views of Rio’s stunning urban landscape.

Standing on his terrace, Baronio gazes at the Atlantic. It takes him only 15 minutes to get to the beach. “In Europe the rich would live here,” he says in amazement.

http://m.spiegel.de/international/world/a-900626.html
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That’s the direction for the newest transportation system in Rio, slated to open in March: a six-station gondola line running above a collection of favelas known as the Complexo do Alemão. The government says that 152 gondolas will carry 30,000 people a day along a 2.1-mile route over the neighborhood, transforming the hour-and-a-half trudge to a nearby commuter rail station into a 16-minute sky ride.

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Companies like Huwei are already refiguring the Android phone equation to suit second-time phone buyers, and bringing prices for unsubsidized touchscreen smartphones well under $200, edging ever closer to $100. Nokia’s C3 series has Wi-Fi, a 2.0MP camera, a full, metal-keyed QWERTY keyboard, microSD storage and an App Store. It comes with Facebook and Twitter access out of the box. Depending on tariffs, it sells for around $100 worldwide. It’s coming to America, soon making an appearance on Wal-Mart’s shelves. The price? $80. It’s the anti-N8: Fairly simple, very cheap, and so far, wildly popular.

This is what the next generation of the mega-selling phone will look like. They’ll be rough facsimiles of the high-end smartphones forged for well-heeled buyers, stripped of fat and excess—an embodiment of compromise. They’ll be 90% of the phone for 20% of the price, with FM radios instead of digital music stores, and flashlights instead of LED flashes

(via The Most Popular Phone in the World)

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So once I’ve got my Hilux, an AK-47, a Casio F91W, and a Nokia 1100, what’s next for my Cheap ‘n’ Indestructible Third-World Chic collection?

Off-Road Kalashnikov | MetaFilter
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