Urban Brazil: Visions, Afflictions, and Governance Lessons By Iva ...

Cities in Latin America would appear to have a host of insurmountable problems, such as severe pollution, chronic traffic congestion, rapidly growing populations, strained infrastructues, illegal housing, corruption, and an unequal distribution of wealth. There are numerous books and articles lamenting these circumstances in Latin America. However, instead of feeding the reader the same “warmed-over” material, Dr. Vassoler presents a success story of the experience in Curitiba, and ultimately a message of hope to other Latin American cities. The underlying message of her book is that progress can be made in confronting the problems of urbanization in Latin America, and the “Curitiba experience” can be used as a “blueprint” for other efforts of urban managment in this region.

By detailing the journey of municipal governments of Curitiba, Brazil, and the success in solving many of its urban problems, while cities such as São Paulo languish, the present work gives us the complete background of how this situation came about. What is amazing is that the public in Curitiba not only is engaged in the planning process, but elects public officials based on their commitment to it. Also, the solutions proposed and projects were not grandiose and unrealistic, but innovative and within the resources of the city. Curitiba is now recognized in urban planning literature as a model city, particularly in terms of solving traffic congestion by the means of an extensive network of exclusive bus lanes or Bus Rapid Transit—which is much less expensive than fixed rail. In addition, this comprehensive bus network can handle just as many passengers as a light rail system.