Presented by the Prefeitura do Rio de Janeiro, the study O Rio de Janeiro e a sua orla: história, projetos e identidade carioca, (Rio de Janeiro and its borders: history, culture and the carioca identity), by Verena Andreatta, Maria Pace Chiavari e Helena Rego, considers the relationship between city, beach and society in Rio de Janeiro taking into consideration two factors.

The first of these is the process of the formation of the beaches, in other words the physical and urban changes that took place during Rio's transformation from a port city to a seaside resort - The geographic characteristics of the city and its evolution over 440 years, since its foundation, ended up transforming the beaches adjacent to the historic center into a modern commercial port and a passenger port.

In this way, the southern and Atlantic beaches became leisure destinations for the population, making Rio a 'city resort' and a most important tourist destination in Brazil.