This place was first visited in January 1502 by a Portuguese explorer who named the city “River of January”, a name still in use today. Located in the southern hemisphere, it has become the paradise where tourists of the northern hemisphere come to enjoy the opposite seasons. The mild weather, mellow beaches, fresh air and rich cultures also attract natives from other parts of the country. This city features natural integration of delicate city buildings with appealing beaches and mountains, fascinating samba, football, carnivals and colorful night life. This is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a city of uniqueness with features of South America.
According to the results of this research, the leisure development index is 0.270, with the economic index for leisure development being 0.182, environmental index for leisure development 0.255 and the administrative index for leisure development 0.373. Its major uniqueness lies in giving full play to the traditional culture and popular culture to develop its leisure supply.
The development of leisure in Rio de Janeiro is with pronounced South America characteristics, which manifests itself in the following aspects:
Firstly, it gives full expression to the South American characteristics of freedom and openness and makes the most out of the national personality. Typical South American sports, arts, recreation and carnivals, such as samba, football, myriads of festivals and celebrations and various religious activities, not only fully reflect the pursuit of freedom and openness of the South Americans, but also constitute a great appeal to tourists all over the world.
Secondly, the urban regeneration planning serves as the driving force behind the transformation of leisure modes. In order to tackle such problems as numerous favelas, the local residents and government work together with developers, on the basis of respect for national personality, to carry out a series of comprehensive regulation programs, such as Regeneration Plan of Barra da Tijuca. The government has formulated and implemented a series of projects according to the concept of “eco-genesis”, which enables the local residents to approach the nature and enjoy leisure in a more environmentally-friendly manner.
Thirdly, taking advantage of pop culture, it has made the South American way of leisure a fashion. Rio de Janeiro is good at giving full play to pop culture, including sports, movies, music and festivals to create South American style leisure fashions. The tourists around the world can hardly resist the impulse to experience the local leisure culture in person.
The experiences drawn from the development of leisure in Rio de Janeiro rests with the practices of following the trend and displaying the national personality. On one hand, it has become an ideal leisure resort for the South Americans and gives full expression to sports, arts and life with South American characteristics. On the other hand, the development of leisure has been restricted by the transportation, facilities and safety concerns due to the unconventional and unconstrained management approach. As the 2014 Brazil World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games are drawing near, Rio de Janeiro is making great endeavors to improve its level of development of urban leisure industry and its overall management ability.
[World Model Cities for Leisure Development, Song Rui (ed), Social Sciences Academic Press (China), 2012]