the lagoa de itaipú is adjacent to two of the city's busiest neighborhoods, itaipú and camboinhas, which is one of the reasons contributing to the environmental challenges of the area.

the population growth became problematic as a rapid wave of urbanization swept the region, adding huge areas of new real estate not far from the lagoon and causing the development of favela communities, without well managed irrigation and canalization systems, in close proximity to the lagoon.