1. What is the most significant change or project in the city of Curitiba that you feel has influenced it becoming more liveable, clean, or sustainable?
Much of Curitiba’s success, as being touted as a sustainable city, can be attributed to the creation of the city’s famous Rede Integrada de Transporte (Portuguese for Integrated Transportation Network) or more commonly referred to in english as the bus rapid transit system (BRT). The concept of the BRT was born in the 1960s as part of the Curitiba Master Plan and was designed to reduce the traffic congestion from a rapidly growing population as well as being an affordable and efficient mode of public transportation ("Success Stories", 2016). Curitiba’s BRT started operating in 1979 and …show more content…
What do you think the future steps in Curitiba should be? For example, what would be a good 'next project ' to continue their movement forth in sustainable development and quality urban planning? In many ways, Curitiba is the perfect example for how a clear vision and good planning can transform a sprawling metropolis into one of the most liveable cities in the world. Curitiba boasts 52m2 of green space per person which is one of the largest in Latin America and almost 6 times the World Health Organisation 's minimum recommendation for a city, one of Brazil 's first paved pedestrian street and the BRT is the envy of the world ("Curitiba: The green capital", 2010; (HABITAT III ISSUE PAPERS, 2015; "Rua XV de Novembro", 2016). Furthermore, some opinion polls have shown 99% of Curitibos are happy with their city in the past (staff, 2007). Despite all the past success some experts have suggested that the city has rested on their laurels over the past few years. Over the decades Curitiba 's middle class has grown and so has car ownership and usage which is now the highest in Brazil now has one of brazil 's highest rates of car usage, patronage of the BRT is down by almost 5% due to increases in fares and a series of high profile accidents involving speeding drivers and the cities interconnected bike ways are now unused much of the time (Halais, …show more content…
Despite this, from living in Brisbane I can tell you first hand that getting around on the busway can be quite challenging and frustrating given the large distances that may need to be traveled to get from one end to the other, the constant bus transfers and the expensive and at times complicated pricing system. Urban sprawl has also helped to created a city which is simply cheaper and easier to move around town via a car than it is to catch public transport. This is reflected in Brisbane 's use of public transport being only 17% which is quite low when compared to other cities around the world and shockingly low compared to the 85% of Curitibanos that use BRT ("4102.0 - Australian Social Trends, 2008", 2016; Goodman, Laube, & Schwenk, 2016). Furthermore, the Brisbane City Council continues to favour and facilitate the usage of cars by building tunnels underneath the city costing billions of dollars in an attempt to shave only a few minutes of commuter 's travel times and alleviate congestion. Unfortunately people in Brisbane hate paying the tolls associated with the tunnels and generally avoid them where possible (Passmore,
Much of Curitiba’s success, as being touted as a sustainable city, can be attributed to the creation of the city’s famous Rede Integrada de Transporte (Portuguese for Integrated Transportation Network) or more commonly referred to in english as the bus rapid transit system (BRT). The concept of the BRT was born in the 1960s as part of the Curitiba Master Plan and was designed to reduce the traffic congestion from a rapidly growing population as well as being an affordable and efficient mode of public transportation ("Success Stories", 2016). Curitiba’s BRT started operating in 1979 and …show more content…
What do you think the future steps in Curitiba should be? For example, what would be a good 'next project ' to continue their movement forth in sustainable development and quality urban planning? In many ways, Curitiba is the perfect example for how a clear vision and good planning can transform a sprawling metropolis into one of the most liveable cities in the world. Curitiba boasts 52m2 of green space per person which is one of the largest in Latin America and almost 6 times the World Health Organisation 's minimum recommendation for a city, one of Brazil 's first paved pedestrian street and the BRT is the envy of the world ("Curitiba: The green capital", 2010; (HABITAT III ISSUE PAPERS, 2015; "Rua XV de Novembro", 2016). Furthermore, some opinion polls have shown 99% of Curitibos are happy with their city in the past (staff, 2007). Despite all the past success some experts have suggested that the city has rested on their laurels over the past few years. Over the decades Curitiba 's middle class has grown and so has car ownership and usage which is now the highest in Brazil now has one of brazil 's highest rates of car usage, patronage of the BRT is down by almost 5% due to increases in fares and a series of high profile accidents involving speeding drivers and the cities interconnected bike ways are now unused much of the time (Halais, …show more content…
Despite this, from living in Brisbane I can tell you first hand that getting around on the busway can be quite challenging and frustrating given the large distances that may need to be traveled to get from one end to the other, the constant bus transfers and the expensive and at times complicated pricing system. Urban sprawl has also helped to created a city which is simply cheaper and easier to move around town via a car than it is to catch public transport. This is reflected in Brisbane 's use of public transport being only 17% which is quite low when compared to other cities around the world and shockingly low compared to the 85% of Curitibanos that use BRT ("4102.0 - Australian Social Trends, 2008", 2016; Goodman, Laube, & Schwenk, 2016). Furthermore, the Brisbane City Council continues to favour and facilitate the usage of cars by building tunnels underneath the city costing billions of dollars in an attempt to shave only a few minutes of commuter 's travel times and alleviate congestion. Unfortunately people in Brisbane hate paying the tolls associated with the tunnels and generally avoid them where possible (Passmore,