The formation of favela spaces in Rio de Janeiro began in the late 19th century. At the beginning of the 20th century, the favela became a public problem and the government began to propose their eradication, giving rise to the policies of transfer of the favelas populations. These policies flourished between 1960 and 1970 and their effects left deep traces on the urban history of the city. More recently, the choice of the city of Rio de Janeiro as the headquarters of the 2014 Football World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games has resulted in proposals for urban renewal public policies. The projects planned to focus on urban areas considered strategic from the point of view of their economic as well as touristic potential and many of them were set up in popular housing areas, especially the favelas. These policies have resulted in the largest number of family evictions from their homes in the history of Rio de Janeiro. This article seeks to analyze the effects, in terms of the dynamics of expulsion, of these public policies on the daily life of the inhabitants of the favelas and on the restructuring of the city, as well as on the forms of resistance and collective mobilizations that they aroused. My aim will thus be to highlight the relations between, on the one hand, the process of constructing representations and forms of social classifications of favelas in Rio de Janeiro and, on the other hand, the wider process of production of urban space to Rio de Janeiro.