the visible efforts of the SMDS aimed at improving socio-environmental aspects of the favelas, while paying attention to the local socio-political structures, earned the institution the nickname of 'city hall of the favelas'.  

the paper Projeto Mutirão, Programas Favela-Bairro e Morar Carioca: três décadas de urbanização de favelas na Cidade do Rio de Janeiro (Projeto Mutirão, Programas Favela-Bairro, and Morar Carioca: thre decades of urbanizatio in rio de janeiro's favelas) by Gerônimo Leitão, Silvia Barboza, and Jonas Delecave  analyzes the changes in the State/Favela relations between 1979 and 2014, and its consequences on projects and public policies of favelas upgrading.  

three different programs are analyzed in their proper political, economic and social contexts - the Projeto Mutirão, which was developed between 1981 and 1989, the Favela- Bairro program, developed between 1992 and 2009 and Finally the Morar Carioca program, launched through a competition of methods for upgrading in 2010, with a reach yet to be evaluated.