The Titans of Capitalism in Brazilian Territory Modernization: Urban Interventions and Public Permits during the First Republic (1889-1930)

Abstract

In Brazil, the newly Republic has showed growing bonds between the elite and the foreign capital. There were in Rio de Janeiro vast resources from trade and finance, deriving for industrial applications. The city was considered as the articulator of Brazilian territory and mediation between this and the international market.
In the capital of the Republic, the conservative urban planning obliterated the old city and inaugurated images copied from Europe and recreated with a civilizatory purpose in the tropics. The infrastructure has been materialized by financing and loans from entrepreneurs in Europe and North America, awarded public service permits.
The projects relied on strong support from the mayors (members or representatives of companies involved in the reforms). This paper aims to address the relations between the mayors of Rio de Janeiro during the First Republic and international capital, focusing on strategies for the production of new spaces in the movement of Brazil modernization and its international image.