Brazil´s north-eastern coast features four cities chosen to host World Cup 2014 matches and the largest of these, with a metropolitan population of close to 3.7 million, is Recife. The city is also the most important commercial centre of the region and, with a maze of rivers, canals and dozens of bridges connecting one suburb to another, is known as the Brazilian Venice.
Capital of former president Lula´s home state of Pernambuco, Recife offers a range of tourist attractions including beautiful beaches diminished only by a high incidence of shark attacks, while its proximity to historic Olinda, the neighbouring municipality, is another highlight. The city also boasts a famous Carnaval rivalling those of Rio and Salvador and, importantly, offering a selection of musical styles for all tastes.
For the 2014 World Cup Recife has some grand plans centred on a new “Sports City” to be built in the suburb of São Lourenço da Mata, 19 km west of the CBD and about the same distance from the Airport. The complex will feature a 45,000 seat stadium called Arena Cidade da Copa (City of the Cup), as well as a hospital, school, shopping centre, apartments and an integrated metro/bus station.
The stadium project is being handled by construction giant Odebrecht in association with sport stadium specialists ISG and AEG. The development, which includes onsite parking and media centre, will cost an estimated R$ 532 million. London-based ISG, which has set up ISG Brasil Empreendimentos for the project, will manage the stadium on a 30 year concession.
The sport complex will cost around R$1.6 billion, although the set of works that will be managed by the state's Special Secretariat for the World Cup is estimated at over R$8 billion. Despite a range of delays to this point, the initial earthworks and landscaping are being finalised and December 2012 remains the scheduled completion date for the stadium and some other facilities within the first phase of the project. The remaining aspects, including the residential development, should be finished by 2018.