The Cidade de Deus (, ''City of God'') is a West Zone neighborhood of the city of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

. It is also known as CDD among its inhabitants. The neighborhood was founded in 1960, planned and executed by the government of

Guanabara State The State of Guanabara (, ) was a state of Brazil from 1960 to 1975, which included the city of Rio de Janeiro. It was named after Guanabara Bay to the east of the state. It was created from the territory of the old Federal District when the ...

as part of the policy to systematically remove slums (''

favela Favela () is an umbrella name for several types of impoverished neighborhoods in Brazil. The term, which means slum or ghetto, was first used in the Slum of Providência in the center of Rio de Janeiro in the late 19th century, which was b ...

s'') from the center of Rio de Janeiro and resettle their inhabitants in the

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

s. It was used as backdrop in the 2002 film '' City of God''. In 2009, it was occupied by a

Pacifying Police Unit The Pacifying Police Unit (, also translated as Police Pacification Unit), abbreviated UPP, is a Specialist law enforcement agency, law enforcement and social services program pioneered in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which aims to recla ...

Basic statistics

* Area (2003): 1.2058 km² (0.4656 mi²; 298 acres) * Population (2000): 38,016 * Residences (2000): 10,866 * Administrative region: XXXIV - Cidade de Deus

In literature and film

Known in English as '' City of God'', ''Cidade de Deus'' is the eponymous name of a 1997 semi-autobiographical novel by Paulo Lins, about three young men and their lives of petty crime during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s in the favela where Lins grew up. An English translation by Alison Entrekin was published in 2006. The novel was filmed by

Fernando Meirelles Fernando Ferreira Meirelles (; born 9 November 1955) is a Brazilian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for co-directing the film ''City of God (2002 film), City of God'', released in 2002 in Brazil and in 2003 in the Un ...

(director of '' The Constant Gardener'' and ''

Blindness Visual or vision impairment (VI or VIP) is the partial or total inability of visual perception. In the absence of treatment such as corrective eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment, visual impairment may cause the individual difficul ...

'') in 2002 under the same title '' City of God'', with most of the cast from real-life

favelas Favela () is an hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella name for several types of impoverished neighborhoods in Brazil. The term, which means slum or ghetto, was first used in the Morro da Providência, Slum of Providência in the center of Rio de J ...

and in some cases, from Cidade de Deus itself. After filming, the producers set up help groups promising to help those involved to build more promising futures. In 2004, the film received four Academy Award nominations for cinematography, for director Meirelles, for editing and for adapted screenplay by Mantovani. In 2005, ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' chose it as one of the 100 greatest films of all time. The tagline "If you run, the beast catches; if you stay, the beast eats", is analogous to the English aphorism "Damned if you do, damned if you don't".

Local currency

In 2011, a

local currency In economics, a local currency is a currency that can be spent in a particular geographical locality at participating organisations. A regional currency is a form of local currency encompassing a larger geographical area, while a community curren ...

called CDD was created for use exclusively in the Cidade de Deus, to encourage inhabitants to spend more locally, thus boosting the local economy. The currency is subsidized. Its value is indexed to about 20% higher than the national currency, the

Brazilian real The Brazilian real (plural, pl. '; currency symbol, sign: R$; ISO 4217, code: BRL) is the official currency of Brazil. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. The Central Bank of Brazil is the central bank and the issuing authority. The real repl ...

References

External links

Cidade de Deus Web Portal (in Portuguese)

Cidade de Deus on Google Maps

- slideshow by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''
''City of God'' movie
official website {{Rio de Janeiro city neighbourhoods Favelas Neighbourhoods in Rio de Janeiro (city) Populated places established in 1960 1960 establishments in Brazil