Many urban planners refer to Curitiba, the capital city of Paran, Brazil's southernmost state, as the poster child of sustainable urban development. It was the classic urban experiment because as the planners began to worry about the population soaring too quickly, they reacted right away. The retrofitting process included people of all socio-economic backgrounds. Lower-income residents received economic assistance through learning the arts of small-business owning and receiving new job training.
Jaime Lerner, the chief architect involved (he has also served as the city's mayor three times), developed a Master Plan which has created linear development alongside traffic arteries. These eliminate the need to commute to downtown because this section is no longer considered a city focus. In addition, downtown offers few parking spaces, so inner city areas have less congestion. While Curitiba was able to take advantage of its Master Plan and begin implementing it in 1965 as rapid growth became a threat, Miami has already grown too quickly; its population now reaches around 3.4 million and it has low urban density. Now, it must deal with the consequences, and individuals which Suburban Nation calls the victims of sprawl have to be considered if we would like to head in the direction that Curitiba has gone. Miami could follow Curitiba's path, which addresses the needs of all members of its population through various modes of transit, bike lanes, green spots and science parks which have become hubs for human interaction and the trade of ideas.
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| Curitiba's designated traffic lanes and crosswalks |
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| Curitiba's public transit (from Urban Habitat) |
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