Got to love high density living in some county's. And people here think they have it rough.
Funny you should say that oldmate. The lady running the tour said these people were poor but happy.
I didn't think they were very poor at all. Yes the houses were built with little respect to normal town planning practices but they are apparently quite overengineered and the owners look happy and proud. The favelas are very clean and well maintained. In fact during the world cup many made a lot of money renting them out on airbnb.
The area has only one road (which bizarrely enough was used for a Brazilian GP won by Fangio long before many of these houses were built). So all concrete etc had to be carried in there. The whole area is a network of narrow lanes and stairways as can be seen in the photos.
These favelas are quite sophisticated areas and most have been 'pacified' by local police. Meaning they are no longer controlled by local drug cartels.