NORMALIZANDO LOS NEGOCIOS: transformando las favelas de Brasil en ambientes de híper-realidad digital.

The shanty towns or favelas of Rio de Janeiro are an established by now aspect of the city’s urban heritage and an inextricable aspect of its built environment aesthetics. Their marketing as global tourist destinations has been an established business for decades. However, in more recent years, slum tourism industries have acquired a digital (Internet) façade that both amplifies their customer reach and generates new ethical dilemmas regarding the representation, or even simulation of favela realities online. The paper considers the economic, cultural and political aspects of these issues as a unity against the profitable background of two global mega-events, the FIFA World Cup 2014 and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. What are the challenges favela industries face when trying to speak on behalf of (and market) poor communities? Do digital environments differ from real-terrestrial ones in the ethical issues they generate? And do local responses to these representational and simulatory mechanisms truly help local development?