Geography Unit 2, Unequal Spaces Case Study 5 - Curitiba, a sustainable city?

Curitiba, the capital city of the Parana state in Brazil, faces the problems of all developing world cities: rural dwellers pushed off the land and the building of slums and shanty towns by the migrant poor on the edge of the city. Now, around 3.2 million people live there. Despite these challenges, Curitiba has the reputation of a sustainable city for its particularly good recycling and transportation developments, many of which utilise low-technology approaches. To be sustainable, you must be economically sustainable, environmentally sustainable and socially sustainable. The city's sustainability projects are multi-purpose, cost-effective, people-centred, fast, simple, home-grown and based on local initiatives and skills. Some of these techniques are:~Pedestrianised city centre. The mayor who organised the town planning of Curitiba in 1968, Jaime Lerner, wanted to convert the town's city centre into a completely pedestrianised area in a very short amount of time - and I mean very. In 1972 he ordered the workers to convert 6 blocks of the city centre into a pedestrian-only area. This would cut down on the city's auto traffic and emissions, as well as encouraging the economy in the city centre. Eventually, after completely shutting down the city centre, they managed to convert it within 72 hours - that's three days. Many people were intending to protest at the mayor's actions, and had decided to simply drive into the centre to disrupt works. To prevent this, Lerner stopped traffic from entering the centre by lining small children drawing pictures across the roads so that cars wouldn't drive past. Now, this has become a tradition, and children go there every Saturday to paint and draw.~Green parks. The city has more than 400 square kilometres of public parks and forest. This helps control flooding, as all rivers are diverted to there, ensuring that very few people or property are injured or damaged by the flood water.~The "green exchange" employment program focuses on social inclusion, benefiting both those in need and the environment. Low-income families living in shantytowns unreachable by truck bring their trash bags to neighbourhood centres, where they exchange them for bus tickets and food. This means less city litter and less disease, less garbage in sensitive areas such as rivers and a better life for the undernourished poor. There's also a program for children where they can exchange recyclable garbage for school supplies, chocolate, toys and tickets for shows. Libraries and museums are also largely stocked with people's throw-outs. This prevents surplus rubbish whilst also helping the poor, and is used by 30 000 poorer people~Their recycling system is extremely effective. It's called the "garbage that's not garbage" program, and it was the first ever city-wide recycling system. Under it, 70% of the city's rubbish is recycled by its residents. Residents are encouraged to sort their recycling themselves, and alcoholics and the homeless are employed in the garbage separation plants. The collected material is sold, and the money made goes into social programmes. The city's paper recycling saves the equivalent of 1 200 trees per day.~Integrated public transport solutionTheir transport system is what they are most famous for. Part of the plan is the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) System.~It was the first city in Brazil to have dedicated bus lanes.~A bus rapid transit system operates. It is 10 times cheaper to run than a tube system. Some employers subsidise their employees who use it.~80% of travellers use the BRT.~The bus rapid transit system uses triple section bendy buses. It carries 2 million passengers a day. Each bus carries 4 000 people a day. ~The bus fare is the same wherever you go, and is pre-paid so that buses can make journeys quicker, thereby carrying more people~No one lives more than 400 metres from a bus stop.~Urban growth is restricted to corridors of growth - along key transport routes. Tall buildings are allowed only along bus routes.Curitiba stands out as a model of voluntary sustainability. The population has doubled since 1974, and it has more car owners than anywhere else in Brazil, but the auto traffic is down by 30% and it has the lowest atmospheric pollution of anywhere in Brazil.

Curitiba, a sustainable city?