Overall Picture
Originally a municipality of the state of Goiás dating from before the eighteenth century, it had part of its territory integrated into the new Federal District, when the capital was transferred from Rio de Janeiro to Brasília in 1960. To serve as the seat of the remaining municipality belonging to the state of Goiás, a small city was built, which also has the name Planaltina de Goiás, but popularly known as Brasilinha (little Brasília). Planaltina, D.F., is therefore the oldest urban area of the Federal District. In recent years it has grown haphazardly with many new housing areas being built to accommodate landless and homeless migrants who arrive daily looking for work in Brasília.
Today Planaltina is a divided city. The traditional sector keeps characteristics of the interior. The buildings conserve an architecture dating from the end of the nineteenth century and the calm atmosphere reminds one of a small interior town. The new neighbourhoods, on the other hand, are crowded and lack infrastructure and basic services, such as health and education.
According to research carried out by Companhia do Planalto Central (Codeplan), in 2004, more than 80% of the inhabitants of the urban area of Planaltina live without rain drainage and 45% do not have a sewage system. Likewise, 53% of the houses are on unpaved streets and 26% have no public lighting.
Read more about this topic: Planaltina (Federal District)
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