The Guardian, 12 March

It was the spectacular creation of a modern utopia: in the heart of a continent, built from scratch with daring architecture and urban planning, arose a city like no other.

Unveiled over half a century ago, Brasilia astonished the world. The purpose built capital of perfect grids and avant-garde buildings exuded wonder and optimism, control and beauty. The United Nations designated the city a world heritage site: it was a living, futurist museum. The plans to build a new capital in the savannah of Brazil’s mid-west began to become a reality in 1955. Just over five years later, the capital was inaugurated. Thousands of impoverished workers flocked to Brazil’s interior hoping to benefit from the project, which included around 8,000 miles of highways, connecting the development to other cities.

As the 50th anniversary approaches, however, the future seems to have ambushed Brasilia. What was supposed to be a shiny citadel has in places degraded into a violent, crime-ridden sprawl of cacophonous traffic jams. The real Brazil has spilled into the utopian vision.

Instead of 500,000 people as planners envisaged, the population has ballooned to 2.2 million, choking infrastructure and, in the rundown outskirts, ushering in scenes of gang violence more commonly associated with the favelas of Rio or Sao Paolo.

Oscar Niemeyer, legendary architect, designed many of the city’s civic monuments. Now 100, Niemeyer gave a rare interview to the Guardian, lamenting that his masterpiece was out of control. He defends the city’s conception and his designs for landmarks, seeing the problems as stemming from the dramatic expansion: ‘It should have stopped growing some time ago. The city should call a halt’, he says.

The town planning is faultless. Commercial and residential zones were meticulously demarcated. Less fine were the subsequent waves of migration and lines of jobless people. The population surge aggravated problems of access to healthcare and education. Unemployment continues to rise, particularly amongst the youth. It has jumped from 21% in 1992, to 40% in 2003.

Even more dramatic has been the rise in crime, especially on the outskirts of Brasilia. Over 100 members of an elite security force were recently dispatched to the outskirts of one federal district to try to control the violence. The high level of violence is thought to be a result of the huge migration and an almost total absence of social services or policing.