There are few examples of sustainable cities. But Curitiba, Brazil, a vital
Latin American city of about 2.1 million residents, defies the odds. It is considered
by many to be one of the most sustainable cities in the world.
Curitiba started as poor and tumultuous as any other city in the region. But
over the last 30 years it has surpassed many its neighbors in education, health,
human welfare, public safety, democratic participation, honest politics, environmental
protection and community spirit. Some say it has done better than many of cities
in the United States.
Located in southern Brazil, Curitiba has about the same number of inhabitants
as Philadelphia or Houston. It is relatively poor compared to most American
cities. The average per capita income is about $2,500 per year. And like many
cities in Latin America, it has been inundated by a flood of displaced rural
poor people in the past three decades.
American entrepreneur and author Paul Hawken
attributes Curitiba’s multiple success to "… implementing hundreds
of multipurpose, cheap, fast, simple, homegrown, people-centered initiatives
harnessing market mechanisms, common sense and local skills," in his recent
book called Natural Capitalism.
"It has flourished by treating all its citizens—most of all its children—not
as its burden but as its most precious resource, creators of its future,"
said Hawken.
Curitiba has had four decades of extraordinary leadership and responsible government,
according to some who have studied the city, including Hawken and Bill McKibben,
author of Hope, Human and Wild.
Both Hawken and McKibben are quick to credit a man named Jaime Lerner for this
success story-in-progress. Lerner was a young architect, engineer, urban planner
and humanist in 1971 when he was appointed mayor of Curitiba at a pivotal time—before
the inner city had lost its identity to the automobile. In 12 years and three
terms as mayor, Lerner and his colleagues contributed to a dizzying array of
feats, including:
Problem solvers with a "can do" attitude staff the city, not bureaucrats
who tell people why they "can’t do" something, says Hawken.
"Curitiba is a city short on cynics and long on citizens," said Hawken.
"Perhaps its most impressive achievement is that a simple philosophy and
persistent experimentation and improvement have created a First World city in
the midst of the Third World."
The city solves its problems not with isolated specialists but by bringing diverse
groups of skilled people and citizens into "charettes," or group problem-solving
sessions.
What typifies Curitiba’s accomplishments is that they haven’t relied
on big money. They have relied on public participation, creativity and taking
risks, say both Hawken and McKibben, who lived in Curitiba for a month with
his wife and baby.
"If people feel respected, they will assume responsibility to help solve
other problems," said Lerner, now governor of the surrounding state of
Parana. "I try and work with people who think it is possible to do things,"
Curitibans themselves rave about their city. More than 99 percent surveyed say
they were happy with their town. When polled, 70 percent of the city residents
of Sao Paulo to the north thought that life would be better in Curitiba.