Rocinha

Although Rocinha is officially categorized as a neighbourhood, many still refer to it as a favela. It developed from a shanty town into an urbanized slum. Today, almost all the houses in Rocinha are made of concrete and brick. Some buildings are three and four storeys tall, and almost all houses have basic plumbing and electricity. Compared to simple shanty towns or slums, Rocinha has a better developed infrastructure and hundreds of businesses such as banks, medicine stores, bus routes, cable television, including locally based channel TV ROC TV Rocinha, and, at one time, a McDonald's franchise. These factors help classify Rocinha as a favela bairro, or favela neighborhood.