Analysis of the Systemic Arrangements of the Built Environment in the Rocinha Favela with the Integrated Modification Methodology’s Diagnostic Phase

With an extremely high level of complexity, urban structures and the built environment are ever-changing entities, in which transformation is a continuous process. Specific patterns of transformation characterize each specific context, and in different urban systems, similar transformation actions generate different reactions and transformation results. Consequently, to plan for any modification on a formal or informal urban system, it is fundamental to learn about that system’s structure. The IMM methodology focuses on the systemic arrangements of the built environment and proposes holistic procedures to understand the nature of the urban systems as entities based on the unique qualities that each context offers. This chapter presents the results of this specific diagnostic process. In the first phase, the built environment system is broken down into its subsystems, and the relationship between those parts is investigated (horizontal investigation). Later, the synergy between them is outlined and the structural attributes emerging from their symbiosis (vertical investigation) are examined. The synthesis of the subsystems results in structural attributes regarded in IMM as Key Categories. Key Categories are morphology-related emergents that shape and host the dynamic processes of the city. This chapter also provides some information on the challenging data gathering processes that PolimipaRarocinha faced to collect the necessary information to better understand the complex and dynamic nature of the favela from a systemic point of view, offering a comprehensive view of the structural attributes and their complex networks and targeting their measurable factors.