Rio de Janiero is coming to terms with the brutality of urban transformation that can come with mega-events like the Olympics

Over the next two years, Rio de Janiero is set to host the world’s two most premiere sporting events, the 2014 Football World Cup, and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. At the end of 2013 Cheryl Brumley travelled to Brazil to investigate how Rio is transforming ahead of these sporting mega-events. As part of USApp’s coverage of the North American neighborhood, she discusses how she found both city and local leaders struggling to maintain a balancing act between effective urban transformation and ensuring that the city’s already high levels of inequality are not exacerbated.