ENTRE DEGRAUS E LUTAS: ENVELHECIMENTO E TERRITÓRIO NAS FAVELAS DO RIO DE JANEIRO

Abstract

This study analyzes the perception of aging among elderly residents in two slums of Rio de Janeiro — Morro da Providência (downtown) and Jacarezinho (North Zone) — focusing on the relationship between memory, territory, and urban challenges. Based on field observations and interviews with 12 elderly people (60+), selected through snowball sampling, we investigate how their life trajectories intertwine with the socio-spatial transformations of the communities. The accounts reveal that, although acting as guardians of local memory, these elderly face daily obstacles such as steep staircases, uneven streets, lack of signage, and inadequate infrastructure for people with reduced mobility, including pregnant women and people with disabilities. Added to this are limited public transportation and immaterial barriers, such as intersectional inequalities marked by stigma related to place of residence, skin color, race, gender, and age, as well as urban violence, precarious services, and disruption of daily routines during police incursions. Despite these adversities, the elderly build resistance strategies based on affective bonds with the territory, community support networks, and creative solutions to overcome physical barriers, such as informal adaptations of space and solidarity in everyday organization. The study highlights the urgent need for public policies that promote accessibility, safety, and the valorization of social memory. For this, it is essential that elderly residents and other community members be included in listening processes, urban planning, and interventions in favelas, acting as active agents in territorial production and the construction of solutions aligned with their realities.