Catalyzing Investment in Urban Sustainability
U.S.-Brazil Joint Initiative on
Urban Sustainability

Projects

Green Districts Program: Ilha do Bom Jesus

Project Overview

In order to stimulate innovation and concentrated economic development, the State of Rio de Janeiro has developed the concept of "Green Districts." Each district will geographically cluster firms and institutions around an economic driver, with the State focusing on the green economy and providing greener services and infrastructure as a backdrop for development. The first district is a green technology park integrating the concepts of innovation and sustainability: The Green Zone of the Ilha do Bom Jesus, in the Guanabara Bay. This pilot Green Zone is located in an area of 240 m2, functioning as an environmentally focused extension of the adjacent Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) Technology Park on Fundão Island.

How to Apply this Program

The State of Rio de Janeiro acquired Ilha do Bom Jesus from the Brazilian military to develop a fully new zone immediately adjacent to an existing technological park. This green district will include both greener physical infrastructure and governance structures that incentivize and support greener industry and innovation in the region. Ilha do Bom Jesus should be the first Latin America neighborhood to achieve international certification LEED-ND (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-Neighborhood Development), specific neighborhoods built aimed at energy efficiency and minimizing environmental impacts. In order to achieve this certification and to attract the types of economic activity it desires, the State will be working with a range of incentive and tax structures to develop a dedicated long-term independent financing system tying public sector investment to greener options.

Contact Information
Rio de Janeiro State Secretariat of Environment (SEA)
Sub-Secretariat of Green Economy
Email: ssev@ambiente.rj.gov.br 
Environmental, Social, and Economic Benefits

Through comprehensive planning and with green certification in mind, Ilha do Bom Jesus should be an area of lower carbon emissions through limited overall energy and fossil fuels use.