Taller Buildings are allowed on transit corridors

Curitiba, Brazil January 2011
World-Class sustainability with modest means
Curitiba, Brazil proves that with visionary leadership and creativity, a city of modest means can become a world leader in sustainability. Pioneered in Curitiba, Bus Rapid Transit is being implemented in cities throughout the world as an inexpensive and efficient way to get people around. Transit Oriented Development through building heights takes a new meaning in Curitiba. Former quarries have been turned into beautiful lakes and parks to control stormwater. Innovative programs combine waste collection with providing food for the poor. Pedestrian streets have been created as a priority. The city leaders make decisions with a transparent list of sustainability indicators. Curitiba citizens across the financial spectrum enjoy a better quality of life because of sustainable thinking.

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These are some of the best practices you will learn about

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) originated in Curitiba as an inexpensive way to move people efficiently and inexpensively. It is being adapted by cities throughout the world, including Bogotá, Colombia and Mexico City. BRT uses dedicated bus lanes and has limited stops. Fees or tickets are collected prior to boarding and passenger platforms make for easy loading and unloading. The efficiency is that of a subway but at a fraction of the cost. BRT works best on long boulevards.

Building heights vary depending on the proximity of the site in question to the Bus Rapid Transit corridor. The closer, the higher allowed, a curve diminishing in an asymptote towards the edges. In this way, the largest population is dense and well served by public transit.

When Curitiba decided to have pedestrian streets, the truck unions organized a protest in which they were going to drive trucks down the pedestrian streets. Local government countered by inviting hundreds of school children to color on the street the day of the protest. Of course, the truck drivers had to cancel their protest drive and Curitiba has had pedestrian streets ever since.

Great public spaces don't need to be expensive. Games and obstacle courses attract children. Where children go so do their parents. Without a lot of effort or cost, a new gathering place is created.

Curitba has pioneered in open storm water management systems.  Several of the cities quarries have been turned into parkland and lakes, that help contain peak loads when storms come.

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In some areas with delicate social fabrics, a library is the most positive meeting point a community can have. The library is the tallest building in the neighborhood and provides free access to computers as well as books.

In areas where conventional waste collections systems cannot be set in place, Curitiba has instituted the program "Garbage that is not garbage".  People in areas of difficult access ( read favelas, narrow streets, undocumented settlements,etc.) collect recyclable items in their homes and streets and bring them to collection points where conventional trucks are waiting. There they are exchanged for useful non-cash items: bus tickets, education tokens, and even food, in combination with the program "Food Exchange". The streets are kept clean, disease is not rampant, and the program offers a stimulus to everyone involved.

Local farmers provide good food at reasonable costs, so the program "Food Exchange"contracts with them. The program trucks pick up this food and takes it to delicate neighborhoods, where its exchanged for "Garbage that is not Garbage". A considerable portion of the waste stream is compostable waste, if separated at source, it  is also collected and taken directly to the farmers, to use as natural fertilizer. This is a win, win , win solution.

Cultural connections are important. These recycling bins are reminiscent of the bongo drums that are prevalent in Brazil. They have a connotation of fun, local and talented

Who says recycling bins need to be ugly? These Brazilian are colorful and fun, and they raise the prestige of recycling as something cool to do.

For biofuels to be sustainable, they must not compete with food production. Research is constant to find non-food alternatives for biofuels, in Curitiba and all over Brazil.

 

 

 

 

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