Contact: Jaime Lerner - Mayor of Curitiba
OR
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank
1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20433
Scope: Urban
Project type: City-wide planning and improvement
Curitiba's "Voluntary Sustainability"
Large urban areas throughout the world are increasingly faced with environmental
degradation as well as economic and social problems, such as unemployment,
violence and a lack of community. Curitiba, Brazil, a city which grew from
half a million residents in 1965 to 1.5 million inhabitants today was no
exception to these typical urban problems.
Over the past ten years, however, Curitiba has been undergoing a replanning
and redesigning process which has had unprecedented success and has come
to serve as a model of sustainable urban planning. Curitiba has come to
be known as the "ecological capital of Brazil." This reputation
was initiated primarily by the vision and efforts of the city's Mayor, Jaime
Lerner, who firmly believes that "cities needed to be rediscovered
as instruments of change" (Curitiba video, 1992).
Lerner began the process of redesigning Curitiba by addressing the transportation
system in the city. He viewed transportation as the key to successful integration
of Curitiba's residents and attributes. A complete overhaul of transportation
in the city has produced: express bus lanes for faster service; access to
buses through the city, with buses running the complete length of the city
streets; and a special rapid boarding system that has cut boarding time
in half. The city buses are privately owned with no direct financial subsidy.
Two thirds of Curitibans now use public transportation, and there is 25%
less congestion in Curitiba than in cities of similar size, which has lead
to noticeably cleaner air.
Retired buses are either used as mobile training centers or as free transportation
to parks and open spaces. These mobile training centers serve as education
facilities for Curitibans, who pay $1.00 to take courses in auto mechanics,
electricity, typing, hair dressing, artisan work or the like. At the end
of these training courses the students are placed in jobs throughout the
city or they often start their own businesses. Furthermore, a 24 hour street
has been established which serves as a town center as well increases the
city's economic development.
The park and open space situation in Curitiba has drastically improved over
the past 25 years. In 1970 only 5 square feet of open space per resident
existed. Today there is 559 square feet per resident. 1.3 million trees
have been planted, 16 parks have been developed, and 1000 plazas were established
throughout the city. Newspapers are posted in these plazas for public reading,
and day care centers have been strategically placed throughout the city
for parents who are shopping or doing errands.
One key aspect o the revitalization of Curitiba has been the participatory
and voluntary nature under which these changes throughout the city have
been implemented. For example, recycling was introduced in Curitiba's schools,
and children quickly caught on and convinced their parents to sort their
garbage at home and to recycle. Today, two thirds of the city's daily garbage
(100 tons) is recycled. Recovering alcoholics and homeless people are actively
employed in the recycling program, and proceeds earned from the recycling
goes back into social services provided by the city for it's residents.
The recycling program is voluntary, not mandatory, and awards participants
with food and transportation vouchers. Over 22,000 families throughout the
city now participate in the recycling program.
The success of recycling has produced less environmental damage citywide,
which has, in turn, reduced the infant mortality rate and disease rate,
particularly in impoverished areas of Curitiba. Serious environmental problems
do remain, however, as parts of the city are not connected to the sewer
system and still suffer from extreme environmental damage.
Curitibans hope that environmental education, combined with structural improvements,
will improve this situation. Environmental education has been introduced
in most of the schools, and after school classes in ecology are offered
in poorer sections of the city where the parents of children often work
later in the day. Lerner also established a "university for the environment"
with open entrance a few years ago.
Many of Curitiba's lessons are being publicized both within Brazil and internationally.
In 1992 an Urban Forum was held in Curitiba, attracting municipal leaders
and academics from around the world. The Forum collectively passed a resolution,
called the Curitiba Resolution, which named actions that each Forum participant
vowed to work for in their own city, such as working to extend basic services
without additional environmental degradation, increasing progress in improving
energy efficiency, and reducing all forms of pollution. This resolution
was presented as a benchmark for urban planning at the United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development (UNCED), which as held in Rio de Janeiro
in 1992.
The success of Curitiba has resulted from the visionary leadership of Lerner
as well as the cooperative efforts by the city's residents, themselves.
As Lerner notes, the follow-up to projects that are implemented throughout
the city is very important. Curitibans need to play an integral part in
the planning process because they are the ones who will determine the success
or failure of a program and adjustments often need to be made in projects
that don't work as planned,
At the core of Curitiba's success is the vision of a city as a structure
where people both live and work. Curitibans are happy in their environment
and take pride in their city because they are creating and maintaining systems
that work, such as transportation, recreation, and education. As Lerner
states, the city has become "more intelligent and more humane,"
(Curitiba video, 1992) and, above all, there is a strong sense of solidarity
among Curitibans.
Case Study Source: Sustainability
in Action: Profiles of Community Initiatives Across the United States--
American Forum for Global Education. 1995
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URL: http://www.sustainable.org/