Terra Vermelha

Londrina is a city that is merely 77 years old, and is nicknamed “little London” because of the fog. The differences in urban development between my visits to the southern parts of Brasil and my life in Manaus is slightly mindboggling, I would like to understand the history behind these differences. Londrina illustrates the historical roots that created structures of development that led to the south and the north of the country to take radically different directions.

In 1924 the British were in the process of negotiating debts in southern Brasil, the governor of Parana proposed a plan with the British that would also help colonize the interior of the state.  Together they created “Companhia de Terras Norte do Parana” to colonize the fertile land and develop industries such as coffee.  The Companhia divided the land and sold parts of it off to investors.  This brought in the first European settlers of German, Spanish, British, and Portuguese descent. Brazilians from Sao Paulo state and Minas Gerais also migrated to the fast developing Parana. In the 1950’s Londrina was the world’s largest producer of coffee, ouro verde or green gold was the nickname given to coffee beans.

In 1935 the famous anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss was recruited to design a plan for the city of Londrina.  Levi-Strauss wanted the city to be designed with social purpose to create spaces of leisure and transportation, instead of solely focused around commercial interests. 

British investment accelerated the growth of Londrina, public and private services were already available in the 1930’s such as: electricity, sewage systems, infrastructure, medical services, and schools.  It is interesting to note that in much of the north and northeastern parts of Brasil these basic services are still not available.  Many scholars suggest that this is because of the history of plantations and slavery has created more socio-economic extremes in these regions.   

Manaus grew in a similar way, except with the rubber boom which generated fast fortunes and rapidly developed the city.  However, along with the decline of the rubber boom the city followed unable to cut off its dependence on the extraction of resources.  So what made Londrina so different?

Londrina’s development was radically different because British investment was under the terms of the government of Londrina in the form of the Companhia, where Brazilians had the capacity to negotiate.  Money was not only in the hands of the British; the government of Londrina could plan the development of the city to include social services and infrastructure.  Whereas, Manaus was unable to further develop because of the exploitative nature of the extraction industries.  Well that is what I think so far, I will have to do some more research on this! Brazil is an exciting mix of contradictions and extremes.

Levi-Strauss's original design for Londrina

The first railway in Londrina, note the union jack