continuing exchange and overflow between rio and niterói have made the city a formidable presence in the modern-day guanabara bay area. in the nineties, niterói became famous across brazil as one the cities with the highest quality of life - also due to the many environmental policies aimed at preserving the city's nature. in 1991 the parque estadual da serra da tiririca was created, giving birth to an important area of preservation of the atlantic rainforest at the border between niterói and maricá.
