Curitiba: Creating a Model of Urban Sustainability

in the Global South

Jeremy ApolinskiGreen Building in International Perspectives

Fall 2013

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Moving into the 21st century, human civilization is

advancing at a hurried pace. Technological advances have

pushed our world into a new age of information and

globalization. Never before has the world been aware of

current events or so connected with other nations and

cultures. However, despite these changes, our world has

never been more vulnerable. These advances have pushed the

Earth to a breaking point with massive cities choking the

air with their pollution and people suffering from indecent

living environments and poor urban planning. We need to use

our technological innovation, particularly in cities, to

control our impact on the environment and create a healthy

and sustainable legacy for our children. Somewhat

appropriately, then, one of the best examples of a

sustainable city is found not in a technologically advanced,

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developed Scandinavian or North American nation, but in the

global South.

This paper is structured in four parts to discuss the

city of Curitiba, Brazil. First, the success of Curitiba as

a model of urban sustainable innovation will be discussed,

specifically in respect to its novel systems of public

transport, water management and greenways, and solid waste

management. Second, the paper will also explain the social

dimensions of these innovations, particularly focusing on

the education about environmental preservation. Third, the

criticisms of the Curitiban model of urban sustainable

innovation will be explored. The challenges that face the

city going forward will next be discussed. Fourth, the

conclusions will also put forth recommendations that can be

applied to the Curitiban model.

I. Introduction: The Roots of the Problem

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Since the end of World War II, the world’s population has

grown rapidly. Projections indicate that the population

could reach as high as 10.6 billion by the year 2050.1 This

unexpected development has left governments, and the planet,

struggling to cope due to lack of infrastructure, housing

capacity, and the environmental degradation that results

from these factors. Compounded with the growth patterns, is

the recently observed tendency of populations to move toward

urban centers. In 2008, the percentage of the world’s

population living in urban areas surpassed 50%.2 By 2030,

this number is expected to exceed almost 5 billion.3 While

cities promise the benefits of proximity to

industrialization and public services, there are caveats to

these perceived assets. The rapidity of the growth has left

city infrastructure struggling to adapt, with the need for

1 UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. World Population to 2300. New York, New York. 20042 UN Habitat. The State of Latin American and Caribbean Cities 2012: Towards a New Urban Transition. Nairobi, Kenya. 20123 Ibid, 1

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housing outstripping the rate at which it can be built.4

This leaves citizens who lack housing, often the urban poor,

to seek residence illegally. This is especially applicable

in the developing world. According to Omar Razzaz, “…about

50% of urban dwellers in major cities in the developing

world occupy housing which in one form or another, violates

laws and regulations.”5 These illegal dwellers are also at

risk, not only of eviction, but also of the severely

compromised environmental conditions in which they find

themselves. They face overcrowded slums where they can fall

victim to waterborne and airborne illnesses due to pollution

and proximity of living quarters.6 The lack of proper

infrastructure planning also contributes to an increased

vulnerability to natural events that become disasters, such

as hurricanes and earthquakes. This can be seen in the

4 World Bank, Urbanization, http://go.worldbank.org/QHKRLTGH70(2013).5 Omar Razzaz, “Land Disputes in Absence of Ownership Rights: Insights from Jordan” in Edesio Fernandes and Ann Varley, ed, Illegal Cities: Law and Urban Change in Developing Countries (London, UK: Zed, 1998), 69-866 World Bank, Urban Poverty: A Global View, Washington, D.C., 2008

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Haitian earthquake of 2011, where the degraded topsoil from

rapid urbanization and improper land use, magnified the

effects of the earthquake.7

Of particular interest is the Latin American region,

the most urbanized region in the world today, where the rate

of urbanization will only increase as the 21st century

continues.8. Though the extremely rapid population

expansion that has occurred in Latin America may slow by

20309, the governments will still be forced to deal with the

growing numbers of urban citizens and the logistics of

organizing a proper response to the overcrowding, pollution,

and degradation that follow as a result.

With all of these issues and complications in mind,

some cities have begun to address them by creating urban

plans that will sustainably and responsibly develop urban

space. The city of Curitiba, Brazil, has been pointed out

7 United Nations Environmental Program, Haiti Mission Report, NewYork. 20108 UN Habitat, “The State of Latin American and Caribbean Cities 2012,” 189 Ibid, 18

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as an example of this urban sustainability.10 This

development history begins in the 1960s, during an era of

rapid urbanization within Brazil.11 Under the leadership of

Mayor Jaime Lerner and the Curitiba Research and Urban

Planning Institute (IPPUC), and continuing with following

administrations, the city implemented and continues to apply

policies that attempt to address the many facets of the

urbanization problem. These include transportation,

protection from natural events, and waste management. These

novel policies work to improve the living conditions of its

residents, while creating an ideal design for other cities

to follow.

II. Innovative and Model Socioeconomic Program

10 Clara Irazábal, “Urban Design, Planning, and the Politicsof Development in Curitiba”, in Vicente Del Rio and William Siembieda, ed, Contemperary Urbanism in Brazil: Beyond Brasília (Gainseville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2009), 202-22411 Jonas Rabinovitch, “Innovative land use and public transport policy: The case of Curitiba Brazil,” Land Use Policy 13 (1996): 51-67

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From the 1950s through 1980, Curitiba was Brazil’s

fastest growing city.12 Curitiba’s growth rate peaked at

7.0% a year in the 60s and remained steady at nearly 5% in

the 70s and 80s.13 This unprecedented growth rate called

for a response. The city had originally received a land use

plan designed by the French urbanist Alfred Agache in

1943.14 This Agache plan used a radial approach with a

central business area as the focus of the design.15 It

failed to account for the increase in automobile use

worldwide in the 1950s and the rapid population growth of

Curitiba. Combined with a lack of funding, these issues

made the Agache Plan unrealistic to implement, which meant a

new plan was needed as population growth caused the city

limits to grow uncontrolled. In 1965, the municipal

12 Ibid, p.5213 “Table 1. Demographic Trends in Curitiba and the State of Parana 1940-1990” (The Environmental and Natural Resources Policy and Training Project, 1999) 14 Irazabal, “Urban Design, Planning, and the Politics of Development in Curitiba,” 20315 Marie Lundqvist, “Sustainable Cities in Theory and Practice A Comparative Study of Curitiba and Portland” (Thesis, Karlstad University, 2007).

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government of Curitiba opened a public design contest to

create a new master plan.16 The new plan altered Agache’s

radial approach and suggested linear corridors radiating

from a city center, with an emphasis on integrated public

transportation. Other areas of focus were to increase

environmental quality and to promote industry, among

others.17

With this decision, the Curitiba Research and Urban

Planning Institute (IPPUC) was created with the expressed

goals of implementing this master plan and managing all

related projects that came up as the city moved forward.

The IPPUC began implementation in 1972 under the leadership

of Jaime Lerner, an architect and later, 3-time mayor of the

city.18

Some of the best-known examples of Curitiba as a model

of urban sustainable innovation are the advances in public

transport reflected in the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), the 16 ibid, p.2217 ibid, p.2218 Karl Magnus Adielsson and Lars Friberg, “Sustainable Public Transport.” Minor Field Studies 15 (2001)

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natural park system that doubles as a system of water

management, and the policies that encourage solid waste

management and the importance of environmental preservation.

These examples best demonstrate how Curitiba efficiently

altered the course of their development and remain a model

for urban sustainable innovation.

A. The Integrated Transportation Network

The first area of model urban sustainable innovation is

Curitiba’s public transit network. Curitiba’s innovation in

public transportation is characterized by two elements.

These are the development of the bus system to provide

efficient transport and the use of the transportation system

to allow the city to grow in an organized way.

The use of buses in Curitiba, as opposed to a light

rail or subway system, has provided an effective alternative

that allows the city to transport millions of residents per

day, at a fraction of the cost of light rail or subway

systems.19 There are many parts that make the bus rapid 19 Jonas Rabinovitch, “Curitiba: Towards Sustainable Development,” Environment and Urbanization 4 (1992): 65-66

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transit (BRT) unique and a model for other cities to follow.

To begin, the express bus lines use bi-articulated buses,

which have a passenger capacity of 270 people.20 These

buses pull up to feeder tubes that allow the passengers to

quickly board or disembark and eliminate the need for fare

collectors with the use of automatic pay stations.21 This

allows three times as many people to use the system in an

hour as a normal bus on a normal street.22 The presence of

feeder tubes near the express busways enables passengers to

move between their routes easily, which also cuts down

travel time. A new step that will further increase the

effectiveness of the system is the introduction of a central

control system, which will permit the buses to move more

rapidly along their routes via the use of smart traffic

lights.23 All of these factors combine to allow the system

20 Luis Antonio et. al, “Curitiba, the cradle of Bus Rapid Transit,” Built Environment 36 (2010): 274-28321 Rabinovitch, “Curitiba: Towards Sustainable Development,”6622 Ibid, 6623 Antonio et. al, “Curitiba, the cradle of Bus Rapid Transit,” 280

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to transport 1.3 million passengers per day,24 which is

remarkable. The BRT remains an important example of the

Curitiba model of urban sustainable innovation, because it

demonstrates how a city without the resources to build

subway systems can create an effective public transportation

system through ingenuity and sufficient planning.

The other segment of Curitiba’s innovation in public

transportation is the use of the BRT system to control the

growth of the city. This can be demonstrated, in part, with

the development of the “Trinary” roadway system. The

“Trinary System” was introduced in 1974. It is a street

system taking up two side blocks with three roadways.25

These roadways include a designated bus-only route going to

and from the center of the city, which takes up the main

avenue, with slow and fast moving traffic lanes on the

blocks alongside, providing access to businesses and

24 Rabinovitch, “Curitiba: Towards Sustainable Development,”6625 Ibid, 3

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residences.26 This design allows for efficient

transportation to and from the center of the city, while

limiting congestion along the way. The road hierarchy is

another important part of the design. The “structural” roads

or “Trinary” system referenced above are an important part

of the road hierarchy around which the city is designed.

These roads are defined as “structural” roads because they

are the foundation for the layout of the city. In addition

to the “structural” roads, there are “priority” links that

allow traffic to reach the structural roads from other

roadways. “Collector” streets have commercial activity

involving all kinds of traffic, and finally, “connecter”

streets link the structural roads to the city.27 The

specified purpose for each road allows for efficient

movement through the city and helps to remove the pressure

from added population density.28 The removal of this

26 Irazábal, “Urban Design, Planning, and the Politics of Development in Curitiba,” 204 27 Rabinovitch, “Curitiba: Towards Sustainable Development,”65-6628 Ibid, 65

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pressure is shown through the use of these roadways to

control the direction of growth of the city, allowing it to

grow out in a linear fashion as opposed to urban sprawl.29

The Curitiba model of urban sustainable innovation is

exemplified in the BRT system as it enabled the city to

provide its citizens with accessible and efficient

transportation, while at the same time using the structure

of the system to create a sustainable growth pattern as

opposed to uncontrolled development.

i. BRT and zoning

Another extremely important and innovative part of the

BRT system is its effect on the zoning of the buildings in

the city of Curitiba. The city has created regulations that

place large, high occupancy buildings along the “structural”

roads. As one moves away from the public transportation

corridor, the buildings decrease in size. A building

alongside the structural corridor is allowed to have floor

space six times that of the plot size, while areas that are

29 Ibid, 65

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one or two streets removed from the express bus lines are

permitted to have floor space four times that of the plot

size.30 This has also controlled the development of the

city, as the buildings alongside the transportation

corridors are often high occupancy residential buildings.31

This zoning policy provides residents easy access to

transportation corridors, which increases the effectiveness

of the system.32 This provides a structured pattern of

growth that manages Curitiba’s population increases in a

sensible way.

B. Water management and Greenways

The second facet of Curitiba’s model of sustainable

urban innovation is its parks system. The Curitiba

innovation in water management and greenways has been

developed and implemented in the public park system, which

are natural areas protected by the government. According to30 Ibid, 6531 Rabinovitch, “Innovative land use and public transport policy,” 5632 Ibid, 60

15

the IPPUC, there are 36 square meters of public green space

per inhabitant and 26 parks.33 This far exceeds the World

Health Organization recommendation of 9-11 square meters per

resident.34 These recreational sites are a place where

locals go to relax and walk along the rivers. More

importantly, these parks are protected by environmental

legislation such as the Municipal Decree for Riverside Areas

Preservation, which allows the government to set aside land

to preserve riverbanks and contribute to the preservation of

the fragile environment around these rivers and

floodplains,35 while at the same time protecting citizens

from natural hazards.

The system of parks was built in order to divert

floodwaters into the numerous deep lakes that exist within

them.36 These protected areas represent an important part 33 Irazábal, “Urban Design, Planning, and the Politics of Development in Curitiba,” 20734 UN Habitat, “The State of Latin American and Caribbean Cities 2012,” 11435 Alicia Fazzano and Dr. Marc A. Weiss, Curitiba, Brazil: Metropolitan Economic Strategy Report, Global Urban Development (2004):1436 Ibid, 18

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of the Curitiba model of urban sustainable innovation

because they protect the city from flooding by isolating the

areas that flood.37 By prohibiting building alongside

rivers and flood prone areas, the city prevents

susceptibility to the flooding that it saw in the 1950s and

60s, as development alongside streambeds grew.38 This

provides a natural alternative to the common method of

addressing flooding, often dams and levee systems. The park

systems are an innovative mechanism by which Curitiba can

address the environmental degradation that often follows

urbanization. By preserving the parks for flood control,

the city emphasizes its commitment to urban sustainable

innovation.

These parks also feature greenways that provide urban

sustainable innovation via their preservation of wildlife

and maintenance of citizen happiness. The existence of the

green spaces within the community allow for the preservation37 Hanna-Ruth Gustafsson and Elizabeth Kelly, Urban Innovations in Curitiba: A Case Study, (New Haven, CT, Eugene and Carol LudwigCenter for Community and Economic Development, 2012), 1738 Ibid, 17

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of Curitiba’s biodiversity, which is unusual for such a

contained urban space.39 This preservation of biodiversity

is extremely important, because according to the 1992

Convention on Biological Diversity, biological diversity has

“intrinsic value… and ecological, genetic, social, economic,

scientific, educational, cultural, recreational and

aesthetic value.”40 So Curitiba’s preservation of the

nearly 4,000 species that exist within the metropolitan

area41 is certainly an example of the importance of

biodiversity as a part of the city’s sustainable urban

innovation. This is especially true when compared to other

Brazilian cities such as São Paulo, where the vulnerable

environment faces encroachment from development.42

As indicated above, the parks and greenways were

designed as an innovative method for water and biodiversity

39 Ibid, 1840 United Nations Environmental Program. Convention on Biological Diversity. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. 199241 Gustafsson and Kelly, Urban Innovations in Curitiba: A Case Study, 1842 United Nations Environmental Program. Convention on Biological Diversity. Case Study: City of São Paulo, Brazil, 2013

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management. They have succeeded at their intended purpose

as can be seen with the absorption of flooding and the

species diversity referenced above. But the purpose of

these green spaces was also to build citizen satisfaction

with a healthy environment and also to sustain a healthy

quality of life. According to former Curitiba mayor, Cassio

Taniguchi: “The value of a city is directly proportional to

the degree of satisfaction of the people that live in it.”43

This satisfaction is reflected in the quality of life and

the image of “environmental correctness” that Curitiba is

known for.44

C. Solid Waste Management with Social Education

The effectiveness of the Curitiba model of sustainable

urban innovation is compounded by its solid waste management

and social education programs. This innovation is

characterized by two features. First, the innovation is

notable for the incentives that support recycling. Second, 43 Fazzano and Weiss, Curitiba, Brazil: Metropolitan Economic Strategy Report, 144 Irazábal, “Urban Design, Planning, and the Politics of Development in Curitiba,” 205

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the innovation is distinguished by education programs that

support the waste management programs and demonstrate the

importance of preservation.

i. Solid Waste Management and Recycling

Curitiba has implemented a recycling program that has

been extremely successful. According to government

estimates, Curitibans recycle about two-thirds of their

garbage.45 The reason for the program’s success is the

incentives laid out by the government for recycling. In

lower income neighborhoods, residents bring their trash to

collection centers in exchange for fresh produce, bus

vouchers, and other types of food, which costs the city no

more than a garbage collection program.46 The trash is

brought to recycling plants, where low-income residents,

retired workers, and recent immigrants sort it.47 By

providing the residents a reason to recycle, Curitiba

45 Ibid, 21146 J. Timmons Roberts and Nikki Demetria Thanos, Trouble in Paradise: Globalization and Environmental Crises in Latin America, (New York: Routledge, 2003), 11347 Ibid, 113

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maintains its model of urban sustainable innovation via the

aesthetic and physical preservation of lower income

neighborhoods. The recycling program helps to clear the

streets of the lower-income neighborhoods and therefore

maintain the environment in which these residents of

Curitiba live.48 Additionally, the money made from the

selling of the recyclable garbage is reinvested in the

city’s social programs,49 which further extends the impact

of recyclng

ii. Environmental Education

Curitiba is also committed to environmental education,

which contributes to the city’s extremely high recycling

rate--one of the highest in the world.50 The educational

program begins with children, this instilling them with a

desire for environmental preservation from a young age. For

example, local residents go to public schools dressed as

48 Rabinovitch, “Innovative land use and public transport policy: The case of Curitiba Brazil,” 7049 Ibid, 7050 Roberts and Thanos, Trouble in Paradise: Globalization and Environmental Crises in Latin America, 113

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trees, talking about “garbage that isn’t garbage.”

Environmental education is also required in all of the

public schools, instilling to the importance of

sustainability with the city’s youngest residents. In the

eyes of the city, the lack of education is a major

contributor to environmental destruction,51 and by providing

these programs, the hope is to engage the younger

generations and create a culture of environmental

responsibility that maintains the integrity of the Curitiba

urban and natural environments.

These programs represent urban sustainable innovation

because they provide an example to residents of the

importance of the environment in maintaining the health and

happiness of the city. By providing incentives to recycle

for lower-income residents on the outskirts of the city, the

government is helping the citizens avoid the problems of

51 Rabinovitch, “Innovative land use and public transport policy: The case of Curitiba Brazil,” 70

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environmental degradation and accumulated and untreated

waste that are typical of urban slums.52

D. International impact of Curitiba

As a model for sustainable urban innovation, Curitiba

has heavily influenced several cities in Latin American

including Bogota, Colombia and Quito, Ecuador.53 The image

of Curitiba internationally has historically been a good one

in relation to its influence on other cities. Also, its

innovative method of environmental preservation has earned

the city recognition as one of the “greenest cities in the

world.”54 In particular, the BRT system has been one of its

most far-reaching influences, as the parks as a water

management system and the solid waste management seem to be

restricted to Curitiba. The implementation of these systems

is feasible for Latin American cities despite their meager

52 UN Habitat, Sustainable Urbanization: Achieving Agenda 21, Nairobi,Kenya. 200253 Santiago Mejía-Dugand, “Lessons from the spread of Bus Rapid Transit in Latin America,” Journal of Cleaner Production 50 (2013): 82-9054 “15 Green Cities,” Grist Magazine, accessed October 19, 2013, http://grist.org/article/cities3/

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budgets and provides an effective means of transport for

local citizens. The most notable example of this is Bogota,

Colombia55, which implemented a system called the

Transmilenio that is modeled on Curitiba’s program to make

it more efficient and increase the reach of public

transportation. .56 After Bogota implemented its system,

the number of cities that adopted similar transit models in

Latin America skyrocketed.57 Each successive iteration

builds on the previous innovations and incorporates new

ideas that other cities have added.58 Not only modeled in

other Latin American countries, this transportation system

has found its way to other continents that have also

experienced rapid urbanization such as China and India.59

Even developed countries note the benefit of the Curitiba

model, with U.S. urban giants like Chicago60 and New York 55 Mejía-Dugand, “Lessons from the spread of Bus Rapid Transit in Latin America,” 8656 Ibid, 8657 Ibid, 8658 Ibid, 8759 Ibid, 8360 Chicago Transit Authority. Ashland Bus Rapid Transit. Available at: http://www.transitchicago.com/ashlandbrt.

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beginning to implement comparable programs.61 The rapid

spread of BRT systems shows their effectiveness and elevates

Curitiba’s place as one of the first major implementers of

this type of public transportation system.

III: Criticisms

However, despite all of the progress that Curitiba has

made and all of the accomplishments the city has achieved,

there are several doubts about its purported success that

have been raised by more informed observers and scholars.

Two of the most important examples deserve mention. The

first of these lingering issues is the importance of an

authoritarian government in the creation of the Curitiba

model of urban sustainable innovation. A second issue of

concern is the continuing socio-spatial segregation that has

resulted from the strategies implemented within in the city.

A question remains about the existence of a military

dictatorship in Brazil from 1964-1985, and its role in Accessed 11/10/201361 Metropolitan Transit Authority. NYC Select Bus Service. Available at: http://web.mta.info/mta/planning/sbs. Accessed11/20/2013

25

shaping Curitiban policy. Jaime Lerner was originally

appointed by the dictatorship62 and given an unprecedented

amount of centralized control as director of the IPPUC, the

municipal authority that generated the majority of the

changes. This enabled them to smoothly and efficiently

apply urban plans and implement them without regard to

popular consent. Despite any civilian approval63 that may

have existed, public sentiment and input mattered little due

to the centralized nature of the government. This resulted

in rapid implementation of policies that may have seemed

beneficial from the top-down, but could have merited

analysis from a variety of perspectives, especially from the

economically less privileged classes who may not have been

represented by the architects and engineers of the IPPUC.

Though the overthrow of the military dictatorship has

allowed for increased public participation, Curitiba lags 62 "Interview with Jaime Lerner." Frontline World, http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/fellows/brazil1203/lerner.html63 Claudio Menna and Paulo Chiesa, The Urban Space of Curitiba through Six Decades of Modernity: Roots and Prospects (London: Routledge, 2011), 303

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behind in adjusting their urban planning to support and

reflect public opinion.64 This leads to questions as to

whether the entrenched city bureaucracy can change to

accommodate new public interest and continue to implement

effective, meaningful change.65

Another issue that persists in Curitiba is socio-

spatial segregation, despite Curitiba’s image as a social

and ecological utopia. According to Dennison de Oliveira:

“one can say that Curitiba’s image only exists as it is

precisely due to services provided by neighboring

municipalities for the maintenance of this image.”66 His

argument contends that the direction of Curitiba’s

development reinforces the persistence of favelas, or

shantytowns, on the outskirts of the city. The zoning laws,

which were so innovative, actually reinforced this growth to

a certain extent. As buildings grew in the central part of

64 Irazábal, “Urban Design, Planning, and the Politics of Development in Curitiba,” 21865 Ibid, 21966 Dennison de Oliveira, Curitiba and the myth of the model city (Curitiba: Universidade Federal do Paraná, 2000), 18.

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the city, along the transit corridors, occupancy was not

evenly dispersed, despite the equal valuation of all

corridors in the zoning legislation. It became obvious that

the growth of these buildings occurred in areas of upper

class residents.67 As so often happens in metropolitan

areas, the upper class areas were soon consolidated into

areas that were off-limits to lower–income residents due to

housing prices and lack of social mobility.68 Walls and

cameras prevent the homeless or misfortunate from entrance

and, as a result, these slums tend to be found in

environmentally compromised areas.69 This represents the

failure of Curitiban legislation and practices. These

zoning laws, meant to reinforce consolidation within the

center of the city, ended up reinforcing the social class

exclusion so prevalent in many other cities.70 The

67 Simone Aparecida Polli and Angela Seixas Pilotto, Urban Disparity in Curitiba: Studies on Segregation (São Paulo, Brazil: International Sociological Association Research Committee 21: 2009), 368 Ibid, 369 Ibid, 1370 Ibid, 5

28

wealthier residents simply bought up the space, controlling

the real estate market and supporting the further growth of

centralized areas for the upper classes71, so that this

socio-spatial segregation will only continue to shape the

way that Curitiba grows. In addition, the trend of rapid

growth of towns on the periphery of Curitiba limits the

effectiveness of the sustainable innovation because the

services have not yet developed to reach these areas.72

These “dormitory-cities” lack the basic sanitation and

transportation services that the interior of the

metropolitan area has.73 This reinforces social segregation

wherein wealthier residents are concentrated toward the city

center, and the poorer residents live on the outskirts of

the city. The growth of these periphery areas has resulted

in requests for loans from Inter-American Development Bank

for the Procidades program.74 71 Ibid, 372 Ibid, 273 Ibid, 274 Inter American Development Bank. Office of Strategic and Development Effectiveness. Progress Monitoring Report (BR-L1083).Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank, 2013

29

These criticisms raise important concerns about the

sustainability of the Curitiba model. As the zoning created

much of the controlled growth of the city, the fact that it

also caused socio-spatial segregation is worrisome. If

Curitiba continues to follow its linear growth model, it

will need to prevent this segregation from continuing to

spread and undermine the effectiveness of the design. Also,

as Curitiba and Brazil move farther away from its

authoritarian past, the continuing implementation of

democratic government and heeding of popular demands will be

an important indicator as to the effectiveness of the model

going forward.

IV: Challenges and Final Recommendations

Granted, many of these problems have occurred recently

as the population growth of Curitiba begins to overtake the

policies implemented nearly 50 years ago, but that only

means Curitiba needs to alter its master plan to confront

the problems of the 21st century. As this growth continues,

the city must revise its policies and build on its past

30

strengths in order to maintain the integrity of the model of

sustainable urban innovation that Curitiba has created.

Most importantly, it must confront the problems that

undermine the three pillars of its sustainable urban

innovation: the BRT, the parks as water management systems

and greenways, and the solid waste management programs

i. The BRT System

The BRT system has been very effective at reducing

private automobile use. This has been due to its

reliability and efficiency. However, future problems may

present themselves in the form of increased congestion from

private vehicle use.75 Currently, private vehicle use is

relatively low when compared to other Brazilian cities due

to the well-developed public transit system. Nonetheless, a

distinct possibility exists for increased car usage in the

future due to the inability of the municipality to hinder

consumers from purchasing cars.76 Therefore, as the BRT 75 Andrea Cinquina, “Sustainable public urban transport systems: The case of Curitiba” (Masters Thesis, Lund University, 2008).76 Ibid, 34

31

reaches its carrying capacity and the buses get more

crowded, wealthier residents may forgo the usage of public

transit and use their wealth to purchase private vehicles

because there is relatively little regulation on car

ownership besides high parking prices.77 In addition, as

the metropolitan growth rates outstrip those within the city

interior, the access to public transit will decrease.78

This leaves workers who work in the city in a compromised

position, often waiting for buses that are at capacity.79

The maintenance of a linear urban sprawl and the

continued support of the BRT transit corridor allowed rapid,

inexpensive transport to remain an achievable goal for the

city. Going forward, however, Curitiba will need to address

the issue of increased population growth and its impact on

the public transit system. This continued population growth

outside of the city places new pressures on the development

policies that the 1966 Master Plan implemented. The

77 Ibid, 3378 Ibid, 30-3179 Ibid, 31

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periphery neighborhoods must be connected to the present

transit system for the growth to be controlled. The public

transit system has become increasingly overcrowded in recent

years, resulting in increased private automobile usage.80

Expansion of lines and the creation of new lines to serve

new population centers will be necessary for the system to

remain as effective as it currently is. Without this

adjustment, the increased private automobile usage resulting

from the overpopulation of the buses will cripple the public

transit system, increasing traffic at rush hour and slowing

the normally efficient system.81

ii. Water Management and Greenways

The park system in Curitiba has been effective at

halting flooding, while enabling citizens to enjoy a green

space within their urban environment. The parks remain an

80 Lundqvist, “Sustainable Cities in Theory and Practice A Comparative Study of Curitiba and Portland,” 2581 Ibid, 27

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important center for the preservation of biodiversity,82

making them an essential part of the natural ecosystem in

the state of Paraná. Finally, they represent a large CO2

sink for the surrounding area.83 It is essential that the

park spaces be preserved and expanded as the population of

Curitiba and metropolitan area of the city continues to

grow. Housing shortages may put pressure on the maintenance

and growth of these parks as the city continues to grow.84

Without the addition of more parks as the metropolitan area

grows, Curitiba will lose not only a beautiful part of the

city, but also an important environmental protection that

reduces the threat of natural events such as flooding.

c. Solid Waste Management and Education

As the periphery areas of the city have grown, the

social services and effectiveness of the city government has

82 Gustafsson and Kelly, Urban Innovations in Curitiba: A Case Study, 1883 Ibid, 1884 Fazzano and Weiss, Curitiba, Brazil: Metropolitan Economic Strategy Report, 23

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decreased.85 This decreased authority has the potential to

affect the ability of the recycling and education programs

to work.86 The Curitiba solid waste management and

educational programs have been extremely effective in

soliciting popular participation in recycling programs and

in educating the populace on environmental issues. By

providing incentives for poorer residents on the outskirts

of the city to recycle,87 the city has encouraged all of its

residents to be sensible about their waste and where they

are putting it. In addition, the education system within

public schools and institutions such as the Free Open

University for the Environment is extremely important to

ensure the preservation of the painstakingly protected

parkland and other natural spaces. The University also

plays a critical role in offering training programs that

teach lower-class residents new job skills that enable them 85 Irazábal, “Urban Design, Planning, and the Politics of Development in Curitiba,” 21886 Fazzano and Weiss, Curitiba, Brazil: Metropolitan Economic Strategy Report, 2387 Gustafsson and Kelly, Urban Innovations in Curitiba: A Case Study, 19-20

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to earn more and assist their families financially.88 The

maintenance of these programs will be extraordinarily

important for the preservation of the gains that Curitiba

has made in terms of urban sustainable innovation. By

educating future generations, Curitiba will be able to

create a population that understands the threats of

uncontrolled development and the dangers that environmental

degradation places upon urban populations. Without these

educational programs in place, it will be simple for the

gains that Curitiba has seen to be mitigated via the apathy

of an uneducated populace. This would be detrimental to the

growth of Curitiba as the population continues to increase.

V. Conclusion

In short, as the city of Curitiba continues to grow,

the institutions that have worked so well over the past 50

years may begin to be overwhelmed. The disparity between

the Curitiba city center and the municipalities on the

periphery is probably the greatest challenge to these 88 Rabinovitch, “Innovative land use and public transport policy: The case of Curitiba Brazil,” 71

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institutions.89 This is causing increases in crime,

environmental degradation, and a collapse in

infrastructure.90 The IPPUC is really the only organization

within the city that could take over metropolitan leadership

and apply the institutions that the Curitiba city center is

known for to the broader Curitiba metropolitan area.91

However, ever since the last term of Jaime Lerner, the IPPUC

has weakened and moved from an agent creating change to an

agent that merely keeps projects on schedule.92 The agency

must work with surrounding municipalities to address the

degradation of the policies that have made Curitiba the

model that it is today. Without proper maintenance, the

innovative methods of urban planning that the city has

implemented over the years will fail as the population

growth outstrips the capacity of the institutions to handle

them.

89 Irazábal, “Urban Design, Planning, and the Politics of Development in Curitiba,” 21690 Ibid, 21691 Ibid, 21792 Ibid, 217

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With the continued urbanization of the globe and the

increasing problems that confront leaders of the world as

populations continue to grow, the necessity for innovative

and novel techniques that make the best use of public

budgets is imperative. This particularly applies to

developing countries, where the majority of urban

development will occur, and budgets are typically much

smaller than those of economically advanced developed

countries. Curitiba has become an internationally

recognized model on how to provide proven sustainable growth

in an innovative way that takes advantage of the area’s

geographical and social conditions. While this has been

questioned within recent years, the rejuvenation of the

programs for which Curitiba became famous for in the first

place, will hopefully breath new life into this influential

city. With a steady commitment to sustainable development,

it will be possible for the countries of the world to halt

the threats that urbanization presents and potentially

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reduce the climate change danger that cities will face in

the future.

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