Sustainable urban planning
Curitiba instance
Sustainable Curitiba
Curitiba has a master planned transportation system, which includes lanes on major streets devoted to a bus rapid transit system. The buses are long, split into three sections (bi-articulated), and stop at designated elevated tubes, complete with disabled access. The system, used by 85% of Curitiba's population, is the source of inspiration for the TransMilenio in Bogotá, Colombia, as well as the Orange Line of Los Angeles, California, and for a future transportation system in Panama City, Panama. The city has also paid careful attention to preserving and caring for its green areas, boasting 54 m² of green space per inhabitant.The city of Curitiba provides the world with a model in how to integrate sustainable transport considerations into business development, road infrastructure development, and local community development. Curitiba first outlined its Master Plan in 1965, with the main goals of limiting central area growth and encouraging commercial and service sector growth along two structural north-south transport arteries, radiating out from the city centre. The Master Plan also aimed to provide economic support for urban development through the establishment of industrial zones and to encourage local community self-sufficiency by providing all city districts with adequate education, health care, recreation, and park areas. The Master Plan established the guiding principle that mobility and land use cannot be disassociated with each other if the city's future design is to succeed. In order to fulfil the goals of the Master Plan in providing access for all citizens, the main transport arteries were modified over time to give public transport the highest priority. Although Curitiba is known internationally as a sustainable, ecological city, it calls itself "the city of all of us." In almost any area of Curitiba's urban planning over the years, it is possible to see how consideration has been given to people in the big picture--and also to see the associated, system-wide sustainability benefits of integrated planning. What is most unique about the city's strategy: is that it maximizes the efficiency and productivity of transportation, land-use planning and housing development by integrating them so they support one another to improve the quality of life in the city. Integration of traffic management, transportation and land-use planning in the 1970s allowed the city to meet strategic objectives which sought to minimise downtown traffic, encourage social interaction by providing more leisure areas and pedestrian zones in the centre of the city, and encourage the use of public transport and cycling in order to achieve an environmentally healthy city. The urban transportation system is one of Curitiba's best-known planning successes, a model for cities around world that want to implement eco-efficient transportation networks that are well-integrated with urban form and produce environmental benefits. The city pioneered the idea of an all-bus transit network with special bus-only avenues created along well-defined structural axes that were also used to channel the city's growth. The transit system is rapid and cheap, and is currently being integrated with the metropolitan region. Each of the five arteries contains one two-way lane devoted exclusively to express buses. This inner lane is flanked on either side by i) a local access lane for cars and ii) a high-capacity one-way route for use by both cars and buses. Separating traffic types and establishing exclusive bus lanes on the city's predominant arteries helped to mold two defining characteristics of the city's transport system: a safe, reliable, and efficient bus service operating without the hazards and delays inherent to mixed-traffic bus service; and densification of development along the bus routes. About 1,100 buses make 12,500 trips per day, serving 1.3 million passengers. Five different types of buses operate in Curitiba: -Express buses operate exclusively on the arteries' dedicated bus ways. -"Rapid" buses operate on both the arteries and other main streets throughout the city, and their routes are changed to respond to demand. These buses stop at tube-shaped stations designed for protection from the weather and for quick bus entry and exit. -"Bi-articulated" bus, introduced in December, 1992, is a form of rapid bus operating on the outside high-capacity lanes. Bi-articulated buses - the largest in the world - are actually three buses attached by two articulations, and are capable of carrying 270 passengers. -"Inter-district" buses bring passengers between the city's sectors lying between the arteries, and thus provide a crucial link between the routes of the express and bi-articulated buses. -Finally, "feeder" buses mix with traffic on all other city streets and bring passengers to transfer stations called "District Terminals," around which local urban development and commercial activity have flourished. Curitiba's buses are privately-owned by ten companies, managed by a quasi-public company. With this public-private collaboration, public sector concerns (e.g. safety, accessibility, and efficiency) are combined private sector goals (e.g. low maintenance and operating costs). The bus companies receive no subsidies; instead all mass transit money collected goes to a fund and companies are paid on a distance traveled basis. Curitiba's buses carry 50 times more passengers than they did 20 years ago, but people spend only about 10 percent of their yearly income on transport. As a result, despite the second highest per capita car ownership rate in Brazil (one car for every three people), Curitiba's gasoline use per capita is 30 percent below that of eight comparable Brazilian cities. Other results include negligible emissions levels, little congestion, and an extremely pleasant living environment Its efficiency encourages people to leave their cars at home. Curitiba has one of highest rates of car ownership in Brazil, and high population growth. Yet auto traffic has dropped substantially; Curitiba has the highest public rider ship of any Brazilian city (about 2.14 million passengers a day), and it registers the country's lowest rates of ambient pollution and per capita gas consumption. In addition, an inexpensive "social fare" promotes equality, benefiting poorer residents settled on the city's periphery. A standard fare is charged for all trips, meaning shorter rides subsidize longer ones. One fare can take a passenger 70 kilometers. Curitiba is referred to as the ecological capital of Brazil, with a network of 28 parks and wooded areas. In 1970, there was less than 1 square meter of green space per person; now there are 52 square meters for each person. Residents planted 1.5 million trees along city streets. Builders get tax breaks if their projects include green space. Flood waters diverted into new lakes in parks solved the problem of dangerous flooding, while also protecting valley floors and riverbanks, acting as a barrier to illegal occupation, and providing aesthetic and recreational value to the thousands of people who use city parks. The "green exchange" employment program focuses on social inclusion, benefiting both those in need and the environment. Low-income families living in shantytowns unreachable by truck bring their trash bags to neighbourhood centers, where they exchange them for bus tickets and food. This means less city litter and less disease, less garbage dumped in sensitive areas such as rivers and a better life for the undernourished poor. There's also a programme for children where they can exchange recyclable garbage for school supplies, chocolate, toys and tickets for shows. Under the "garbage that's not garbage" programme, 70% of the city's trash is recycled by its residents. Once a week, a truck collects paper, cardboard, metal, plastic and glass that have been sorted in the city's homes. The city's paper recycling alone saves the equivalent of 1,200 trees a day. As well as the environmental benefits, money raised from selling materials goes into social programmes. The result of the strategy--which put people at the centre and emphasized integrated planning--is that the city has become a showcase of ecological and humane urbanism, with ongoing improvements over the past 38 years to social, economic and environmental conditions for its residents. Curitiba has become the most sustainable of cities, in the process proving that applying a city-strategy with strong values and a focus on integrated systems can harness the actions of planning departments to meet common strategic objectives.
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