Olympics: Rio mayor bets big on broken-down port area

Rio de Janeiro

MARCOS Vieira had a front-row seat for the biggest piece of Rio de Janeiro's pre-Olympic facelift: razing the elevated highway that ran past his office. He now has a clear view of the cruise ships pulling into port. In a few years, he will see office buildings and museums, bike trails and pedestrians. So far so good - "you see a fantastic aesthetic advance", says Mr Vieira, vice-president of the Portela samba school and a military policeman.

The road's removal is central to Mayor Eduardo Paes's 8.2 billion reals (S$3.9 billion) bid to emulate cities such as Boston and Barcelona by renovating seedy waterfronts. He faces a tight deadline - the 2016 games - for tunnels to relieve gridlock.