Hygienist discourse about improving conditions in the city was used to underpin drastic policies for urban re-structuring - The Primeiro Relatório de Melhoramentos da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro (First Report for Improvements to the City of Rio de Janeiro) was published in 1875 outlining measures to increase street sizes and improve the circulation in the city, which would only be put in place between 1903-1906.

In 1893 the very first favela-like community was demolished - Cabeça de Porco (Pig's Head), displacing 2,000 people - to this day the term  'Cabeça de Porco' is a derogatory term used to describe a particularly unhealthy collective housing situation.

Following this, the government began to re-organize the urban aristocratic centre of the city - In 1897, the favelas of providência(Providence) and Santo Antônio (Saint Anthony) emerged in the region.