00:00And as more and more city governments privatize their parks across Brazil, many working-class
00:06families are feeling squeezed out.
00:08Our correspondent Brian Meir has more.
00:11Across Brazil, more and more city parks are being privatized through lease agreements
00:16that turn their management over to private companies.
00:19In 2025, four city parks were privatized in Recife.
00:23Far-right São Paulo governor Tarsísio Freitas has announced privatization plans for six
00:28parks by the end of 2026, and the mayor of Rio de Janeiro recently announced plans to
00:33privatize 26 parks.
00:35Supporters say that privatization makes management more efficient, but critics argue it is making
00:40them less democratic.
00:44The problems with parks that are turned over to the private sector is that they operate
00:49for profit.
00:50For this, they have to commercialize and sell the space in the park, be it for advertising
00:56or expensive restaurants and this leads to a gentrification of the park.
01:02In other words, in addition to losing some of its original characteristics as a place to
01:07relax and think, the fact that they charge for the activities that take place in the park
01:12makes it inaccessible for the lower-income population.
01:19Recife's Jaqueira Park was privatized last year.
01:22Since then, the park has begun to fill up with expensive food kiosks and shops.
01:27The city's only public BMX bicycle race course was ripped down, along with several century-old
01:32trees, and replaced with a smaller parody to make way for a shopping mall-style food court.
01:38Meanwhile, some families are saying they no longer feel welcome holding picnics there.
01:43My analysis is this is a new strategy to reproduce the process of exclusion.
01:50These are parks for which we have received various reports of people being unable to enter
01:55them or who were kicked out by security guards or that they do not feel comfortable in these
02:00spaces.
02:03The right to the city is the right of all residents, especially the poor, not only to enjoy every
02:08benefit that the city has to offer, but to be able to change it to best suit their needs.
02:13By that definition, privatizing parks represents a denial of this right.
02:18Brian Muir, TELASUR, Recife.
02:21Pre-
02:21N interessant
02:22Bon
02:22Bon
Comments