G2G Friday Favorites – Brazil Edition

Between the Brazilian national soccer team’s amazing victory over Spain in the final of the Confederations Cup last month in Rio de Janeiro and the massive protests that took place outside of the stadiums throughout the tournament, the country of Brazil has been making a lot of headlines recently. Here are a few that relate to construction and development as Brazil moves towards hosting the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics:
• Bloomberg examines the $13 billion being spent by the government on the 12 World Cup stadiums and the possibility that these stadiums will become white elephants.
• Meanwhile, TriplePundit looks at the ways these stadiums will be more sustainable than their predecessors, including using a photocatalytic membrane on a roof to offset pollution, building a solar plant on site, and locating new stadiums within walking distance of hotels and housing.
• Romário, who led the Brazilian team to a World Cup victory in 1994 and is currently a Brazilian congressman, explains how this spending–for what will be the most expensive World Cup ever–has incited over a million Brazilians to protest.
• And finally, The Guardian details the rich and turbulent history of the most famous stadium in Brazil, the Maracanã, which hosted the Confederations Cup final last weekend and will host the World Cup final next year.