History
The region of Barra da Tijuca was originally a huge beach, With typical undergrowth sandbanks. The area full of swamps and unsuitable for planting, remained unoccupied until the middle of the twentieth century, even though there were occasional groups of fishermen who frequented the region.
In the year 1667, The region was given to religious Benedictines, who implanted devices only in the neighborhoods of Camorim Vargem Pequena, and Vargem Grande.
In 1900, the lands of Barra da Tijuca and Baixada Jacarepaguá were sold to the company Remedial Territorial Agricultural and SA, still large land owner in the area, ESTA, among others. The concentration of large tracts of land in the hands of a few was one of the causes of its late growth. Adding to the difficulty of access to the region is the fact that it is separated from the rest of the municipality by large mountain ranges with peaks ranging from 800–1200 meters.
The effective occupation of the area took place initially by its two ends, both in current Jardim Oceanico and in Recreio dos Bandeirantes. A bridge was then built by private initiative over the Tijuca Lagoon to serve the area's new inhabitants.
The hallmark of the early development of Barra da Tijuca, however, occurred in the administration of Governor Negrão de Lima, the former governor of the state of Guanabara, who commissioned the planner Lúcio Costa, an urban designer for the region. The Masterplan for Barra in 1969, was similar to the Masterplan of Brasília. It was inspired by American urban planning style with wide boulevards and large open spaces, which definitely marked the beginning of the peculiar lifestyle of Barra.
In the 1970s the Lagoa-Barra highway was built, which allowed a greater development since it reduced the time to go to the South Zone of the city of Rio. At that same time, big planned condominiums which inspired "the new way of life", how it is commonly called, were developed in Barra, such as the condominiums Nova Ipanema and Novo Leblon.
In the 1990s, another large urban development that enabled better connection with the North Zone of Rio was the creation of the Yellow Line, an expressway linking Barra da Tijuca to the Galeão International Airport. Since then, the growth of Barra da Tijuca has been characterized by large inflows of people from all parts of the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro looking for the "paradise city".
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