Barra da Tijuca

Barra da Tijuca (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈbaʁɐ dɐ tʃiˈʒukɐ]) (usually known as Barra) is an upper-middle class neighborhood or bairro in the Southwest Zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, located in the western portion of the city on the Atlantic Ocean. Barra is well known for its beaches, its many lakes and rivers, and its lifestyle. This neighbourhood represents 4.7% of the city population and 13% of the total area of Rio de Janeiro.

Barra da Tijuca is classified as one of the most developed places in Brazil, with one of the highest Human Development Indexes (HDI) in the country, as measured in the 2000 Brazil Census. Unlike the South Zone and Rio's Downtown, Barra da Tijuca, built only 30 years ago, follows the Modernist standards, with large boulevards creating the major transit axis. The area's masterplan was designed by Lúcio Costa, known for his work on Brasília, and creates a region filled with many gardens, shopping malls, apartment buildings and large mansions. In recent years, due to the rapid development of the Brazilian economy, Barra's population has increased by over 100,000, as a large number of residents and companies search for cheaper real estate as an alternative to the densely populated South Zone of Rio. Demographic data indicates that the region is the fastest growing neighborhood in Rio: 98,851 in 1991, 174,353 in 2000, and 300,823 in 2010.

Barra natives and residents are known as Barristas, or more popularly, Barrenses. The neighborhood is a cultural, economic, and administrative hub of the city, and is believed to be the safest of Rio's upper-class neighbourhoods because of its lack of favelas and plentiful private and public security. It is the home of several celebrities and football players, such as the singer Anitta. In August 2016, Barra hosted most of the venues of the 2016 Summer Olympics, the first held in South America.

The name Barra da Tijuca can be roughly translated as "clay sandbank". Barra means port entrance or sandbank, and Tijuca is a word originally from the Tupi ty-yúc and means putrid water, mud, swamp, puddle, clay or clay-pit. Tijuca (meaning marsh or swamp) from ty ("water") and îuká ("to kill").

The region of Barra da Tijuca was originally a large 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 occasional groups of fishermen frequented the region. In 1667, the region was given to religious Benedictines, who settled 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, ESTA, which remains a large land owner in the area. The concentration of large tracts of land in the hands of a few was one of the causes of its late growth. Additionally it is separated from the rest of the municipality by large, difficult-to-cross mountain ranges with peaks ranging from 800–1200 meters.

Development of the area took place initially on its two ends, in current Jardim Oceânico and in Recreio dos Bandeirantes. A bridge was then built by private initiative over the Tijuca Lagoon to serve the area's new inhabitants. Significant early development of Barra da Tijuca occurred during the administration of Governor Negrão de Lima, the former governor of the state of Guanabara, who commissioned Lúcio Costa, one of the region's urban designers. The plan for Barra in 1969 was similar to the earlier one for Brasília. It was inspired by American urban planning style with wide boulevards and large open spaces.

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 the same time, large planned condominiums 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.

During the 1980s, Barra da Tijuca experienced a population explosion, with virtually all the land along its boulevards occupied by large residential condominiums, parks, supermarkets, shopping malls, schools and hospitals. The avenues were widened and received traffic lights. At this time there was a movement for the declaration of Barra as a separate city; While there was a referendum to this effect, and a majority of voters voted to make it a separate city, turnout was too low for it to succeed. ^{[citation needed]}