"Secretaria Municipal de Habitação" (Housing Secretariat of the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro)
The Executive Group for Special Programs in Low-Income Settlements (GEAP, Grupo Executivo de Programas Especiais para Assentamentos Populares), which brings together municipal offices and municipal companies involved with the housing sector, was created in 1993 to propose a housing policy for the City of Rio de Janeiro and to integrate municipal actions in the area. With the housing policy approved, the Special Housing Secretariat (Secretaria Extraordinária de Habitação) was established and then formally converted in 1994 into the Municipal Housing Secretariat (Secretaria Municipal de Habitação) in 1994. The Secretariat is under the direction of Sérgio Magalhães, an architect who was confirmed by the new Mayor, Architect Luiz Paulo Conde, elected in 1997.

Since 1994, the Housing Secretariat has coordinated the implementation of seven programs proposed by the city housing policy:
1. Favela-Bairro (Slum-to-Neighborhood)
Completes or builds primary urban infrastructure (sanitation and democratization of access) in consolidated favelas or slums and offers social and environmental conditions to transform the areas and encourage the integration of favelas as regular neighborhoods of the city. Works in a universe of medium sized slums, which include from 500 to 2,500 dwellings.

2. "Regularization" of Land Subdivisions
"Regularizes" land subdivisions by completing or constructing urban infrastructure in these areas. Establishes administrative and legal procedures for legally registering irregular land developments, to ensure conditions for the dwellers that promote good health and undisputed land tenure.

3. Legalization of Land Titles
Provides land titles for occupants/dwellers/recipients of unregistered or illegal lots to increase the amount of legally occupied real estate. Incorporates large tracts of urban land thet were illegally settled into the municipal tax register.

4. New Alternatives, Villas and Tenements
Offers alternatives for building on lots with existing infrastructure, both for investors and families. Also uses vacant land to reshape the urban fabric. Restores the compact housing alternative of villas and tenements that are in precarious conditions in order to revitalize housing options in the center of the city.

5. Living without Risk
Resettles the population that lives in high-risk areas (on stilts over water, on steep hillsides or under bridges) when it is not possible or advantageous to eliminate the risk. Provides projects to control landslides or flooding in inhabited areas.

6. Carioca Housing
Finances land acquisition in areas with existing infrastructure, primarily to satisfy demands of middle class workers (particularly professionals and public servants) through letters of credit, stimulates the participation of small and medium businesses in the production of housing. Supports the formation of housing cooperatives and the rehabilitation of public housing buildings.

7. Little Neighborhood ("Bairrinho")
Improves the urban and housing conditions of people who live in small slums, similar to the Favela-Bairro Program, but for a population of between 100 and 500 families.

Municipal Agencies that participate in the Executive Group for Special Programs in Low-Income Settlements (GEAP)
Secretaria Municipal de Desenvolvimento Social (Social Development Secretariat)
Secretaria Municipal de Educação (Education Secretariat)
Secretaria Municipal da Fazenda (Finance Secretariat)
Secretaria Municipal de Habitação (Housing Secretariat)
Secretaria Municipal de Meio Ambiente (Environment Secretariat)
Secretaria Municipal de Obras (Public Works Secretariat)
Secretaria Municipal de Trabalho (Labor Secretariat)
Secretaria Municipal de Urbanismo (Urban Planning Secretariat)
COMLURB - Companhia Municipal de Limpeza Urbana (Garbage Collection Company)
GEO-RIO - Fundação Instituto de Geotécnica (Geological Institute)
IPP - Instituto Municipal de Urbanismo Pereira Passos (Pereira Passos Urban Planning Institute)
RIO-LUZ - Companhia Municipal de Energia e Iluminação (City Power and Light Company)
RIOURBE - Empresa de Urbanização (City Improvement Agency)
RIO-ÁGUAS – Fundação Instituto das Águas do Município do Rio de Janeiro (City Water Authority)
Procuradoria Geral do Município (City General Attorney)