While the spotlight is on Curitiba as a host city to the 2104 World Cup, it deserves its own trophy (and has won awards)  as a model of sustainable urban planning in its approach to everything from alternative transit and green space preservation to housing and waste management.  Look at what this city of 3.2 million people has accomplished:

The Highest Recycling Rate in the World

70 % of the city’s garbage is recycled. Curitibanos who collect trash, deposit it at a recycling center and obtain fresh food and bus tickets in exchange. Children are involved in a major way. They bring plastic to school for recycling and get back at Christmas time toys made of recycled plastic. How better better to involve kids in the culture of recycling at an early age? The kids, in turn, educate the parents. All public and private schools are required to separate the garbage. The environmental mindset can be seen across the board, even in shopping malls. Fast food eateries serve on real plates with real silverware. Styrofoam is a rarity. Stores and museum shops sell products made from recycled goods.

Green Spaces/Flood Management

The city has placed great emphasis on creating and retaining parks and green space beside the rivers. This acts as a floodplain. When the Iguazu River floods, some areas created are used as boating lakes. Curitiba has built large numbers of beautiful parks to control floods rather than concrete canals. So many that they use sheep to cut the grass since it’s cheaper than lawnmowers.

Transportation

Urban growth is restricted to corridors of growth - along key transport routes. Tall buildings are allowed only along bus routes. A bus rapid transit system operates. This is cheaper to run than a subway system. Some employers subsidize their employees who use it. 80% of travelers use it. The bus rapid transit system uses triple section bendy buses. It carries two million passengers a day. The bus fare is the same wherever you go. No one lives more than 400 meters from a bus stop.  This system that is so good that car traffic decreased by 30% while the population tripled in a twenty year period!

There is so much that can be said about Curitiba and it’s no wonder that 99% of its population loves living there.  Watch Jaime Lerner’s excellent TED presentation Sing a Song of Sustainable Cities for more information.