The quality of urban environments in the Brazilian Amazon

In the Brazilian Amazon during the 1980s, urban population growth outstripped rural growth, and by 1991, most of the region's population resided in urban areas. Much of this urban growth involved establishment of unplanned housing with inadequate infrastructure, which resulted in rising pollution. This paper compares indicators of environmental quality in urban populations of the Amazon in 1980 and 1991, and among different kinds of urban populations in 1991. The results show that environmental quality in the region deteriorated during the 1980s as the production of and exposure to environmental hazards rose while resources to ward off hazards eroded. The findings also show that environmental quality was particularly poor in more rapidly growing urban centers. The urban Amazon may not afford an adequate standard of living and this may generate out-migration from the region.