The favelas of Rio de Janeiro are shantytowns that lack even the most basic infrastructure and services. The Favela-Bairro Project, featuring the work of Jorge Mario Jauregui Architects, seeks to turn these blighted areas into functioning neighborhoods, or bairros. Jauregui"s design initiatives include the construction of community centers offering recreational activities and job training, daycare facilities, communal kitchens, and new streets and pedestrian walkways. These projects facilitate movement within the favelas, create links to the city center, address health and environmental concerns, and taken collectively, improve the sociological and economic status of the favelas.