It is a piece of land that has been occupied and not properly regularized with the government. Rocinha is located in the South Zone of Rio de Janeiro, between the neighborhoods of Gávea and São Conrado. The houses are all built on the side of a mountain, with these ones being more secure than the other side because they are built on top of stone instead of dirt, so they are less likely to suffer from mudslides It is estimated that the current population of Rocinha is around 150 thousand, maybe 300 thousand. There are internet cafes, hair salons where you could get manicures and pedicures, movie and dvd rental places and at one point they even had a McDonalds.

credit: AJoStone

credit: kevin.j

credit: seier+seier

credit: matteo0702

credit: Alicia Nijdam

credit: Alicia Nijdam

credit: Carlos Varela

credit: Carlos Varela

credit: Carlos Varela

credit: Carlos Varela

credit: Carlos Varela

credit: AJoStone

credit: ra_o

China is planning their future with all these little models. This project is amazingly huge. The main feature of the museum is the enormous scale model of Beijing. The model was created with incredible detail. A balcony provides a bird’s-eye view of Beijing equivalent to viewing the city at 20,000 feet. The museum also has a 3D cinema showing films about urban planning in Beijing.

Address: 20 Qianmen Dongdajie, Dongcheng District
Tel: +86 10 6702 4505/59
Open: 9 a.m.–5 p.m. (Closed Mondays)
Admission: RMB10 (1.6USD)
How to get there: Subway Line 2, Qianmen Station

credit: IvanWalsh.com