About 14% of the population of Porto Alegre, nearly 200,000 people, live in favelas, classified by IBGE as "subnormal agglomerations." These residents typically lack guaranteed property rights and do not have access to basic public utilities and services such as sanitation, drainage networks, or street lighting. Around 4,000 people experience homelessness. The city's public transit system, which carries over 20 million passengers per month, is facing the worst crisis in its history, with unsustainable operations. Our public spaces are dominated by cars, whose drivers enjoy the privilege of parking for free on public streets. Dumpsters, which are meant to receive only organic waste and non-recyclables, end up filled with all kinds of trash, undermining proper waste collection in the city.
Against this backdrop, the priority the public places on burying the city's overhead wiring—at an extremely high estimated cost of R$10 million per kilometer—is always surprising. The standard justification is the implementation of a safer system that can better withstand the storms that routinely cause power outages. Nevertheless, the social and political motivation behind this investment is undeniably aesthetic: wires are unsightly. Residents of Porto Alegre are no exception. São Paulo also has the "Programa SP Sem Fio" (Wireless SP Program), which promises to bury 52 kilometers of wiring in the city's downtown area. The project was launched by then-mayor João Doria, originally named "Cidade Linda Redes Aéreas" (Beautiful City Aerial Networks), in reference to his campaign slogan.
