Change was also palpable on the street level in Rio, where so-called “pacification” security forces were expanding their sway in favelas that had long been under the control of drug gangs. Construction crews were overhauling neighborhood after neighborhood as officials prepared the city to host a series of megaevents, including the United Nations’ Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development, the 2014 World Cup and the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympics. Meanwhile, the resurgence of entire sectors like shipbuilding and the construction of a colossal refinery complex near the city were winning plaudits for Petrobras, the national petroleum company. The oil giant, based in a brutaliststyle headquarters in the old center, was bolstering its role as the linchpin of a development policy aimed at reviving old industries, developing new ones and fomenting a nationalist aura in the process.