Sustainable NYE City #3: Curitiba, Brazil

In the early 1960’s, Mayors Ivo Arzua and Jaime Lerner put out a call for urban planning proposals for the rapidly-growing city of Curitiba, Brazil and the rest is history. Yet this history is also what’s now sustaining Curitiba’s present and serving as one of the best examples of sustainable cities in the world. If you want to a look into the future this New Year’s Eve, Curitiba is the ideal destination.

Constructed under the mantra, “a city is not a problem, it’s a solution”, Curitiba set an early precedent of only accepting non-polluters into its downtown area and creating an industrial park rich with green spaces. Today, there is still approximately 580 square feet of green pace per inhabitant in Curitiba, Population: over 3 million. What’s more, 15 blocks of the city are strictly devoted to pedestrians, making it one of the most successful downtown shopping areas in the region. The bus system is specially designed to reach all corners of the city and maximize efficiency. You board, pay, and wait on a snazzy, futuristic bus tube and the price is the same, no matter where you go.

Curitiba also provides unique-looking, affordable housing to attract rural workers to the city while not condemning them to live in the slums. To solve Brazil’s notorious problem of street children, stores are encouraged to “adopt” a street child in which they provide them with a daily meal and a small wage in exchange for maintenance chores. Street children also have the opportunity to tend to the famous Rua de Flores street that is lined with flowers in exchange for a money. They can even turn in recycled garbage for school supplies, chocolates, toys, and tickets to shows. Rural communities who are not serviced by the garbage pick-up trucks also have the opportunity to exchange their garbage and recycled goods for free bus tickets and food stipends. In this way, Curitiba ensures that everyone in the city is able to live ably in some way.

17 new parks, 90 miles of bike paths, and a slew of visionary mayors later, Curitiba is a sustainable paradise. Reader’s Digest has even voted it the best place to live in Brazil. I’m casting my vote as it being the best place to celebrate the New Year: warm (both physically and communally) and sustainable. Hop on the white Tourist Line bus and check out the ecological capital of Brazil. Inquire about the “Lighthouses of Knowledge” that pepper the city, the rapidly-constructed Botanic Gardens, and the Wire Opera House, but most importantly, saúde!