rio's favelas vary widely and can be as large and developed as a proper small town of 200,000 people, complete with stores, markets, multi-story buildings, and even pousadas, or can be as small as a simple settlement housing fewer than 100 families.  

the urbanization of a favela goes well beyond the simple development of buildings and infrastructures, as it needs to address proper social and logistical integration into the rest of the city.

houses in rio's favelas can vary from multistory modern buildings, to plain wooden and tin houses -  however, the great majority of residences in rio's favelas are two-story constructions built with orange or gray bricks and are often left unfinished on the outside, giving favelas their characteristic look.

these houses are built with a flat roof so that additional floors can be built on top -  often the 'roof rights' are sold or leased to people willing to build their own homes on these roofs.