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-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- 2 messages on Curatabia: from Leighton Steele & "Acid" Wayne Groszko -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Here is a message which I sent to a few people and which Paul asked me to forward to the group. ______________________________________________________________ Have any of you heard about this city of 2.5 million people in Brazil named Curatiba? Its sounds like a kind of miracle: a public-transit friendly, car-unfriendly place that is functioning pretty well. I only heard about it for the first time the other day on CKDU, the "Barsamian Tapes" in a report by Bill McKibben, a journalist and author (who basically is responsible for spreading the word about global warming). Anyhow, I am interested in finding out more and am ordering the transcipt of that particular broadcast. But, here is a website with some minimal info about the place... http://www.curitiba.pr.gov.br/Ingles/Cidade/Historia/index.html -- Leighton (Larry) Steele Modern Languages Dept. Mount Saint Vincent University Phone : 457-6113 Fax : 425-0901 -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- From: Wayne Groszko <groszko@Atm.Dal.Ca> This may be of interest to sustainable maritimers... Wayne Groszko groszko@atm.dal.ca > On Tue, 9 May 2000, Wayne Groszko wrote: > > > > Hi Larry, > > Yes, I have heard of Curitiba. In fact, a city planner from Curitiba came > > to speak in Halifax at the Daltech planning seminar in the spring of 1999, > > and I saw her presentation. It was really interesting. They have planned > > their city around five "arms", and each arm has "dedicated busway" (buses > > only), in the middle, with streets for cars on the outside, and a > > boulevard in between. This is the main transit network, and it's used by > > so many people that the buses are "double-articulated" (they are each > > three buses long, with two folds in the middle for turning.) Each bus can > > carry 280 passengers. It's essentially a train on rubber tires. The bus > > stops are more like little station platforms, so you get your ticket > > before you get on. This speeds up service. > > > > The land use of the city is planned accordingly. High density housing, > > like apartment buildings, is concentrated along the arms so people can > > walk to transit. Lower density communities are located in between the > > arms. > > > > There is a big car-free zone in the middle of the city, on what used to be > > a main road for cars. > > > > There are several hundred kilometres of bike paths. > > > > There is all kinds of other neat stuff, like public libraries all over the > > place, built as replicas of the Library of Alexandria, with a domed > > lighthouse on top so they can be clearly identified (beacon of knowledge > > thing...). There is a "free university" for people to upgrade their > > knowledge. One part of the city is designed as a "crafts village", with > > houses that have a small shop/studio on the ground floor, and an apartment > > on the second floor, so that people can start their own small businesses > > right in their house - bike repair shop, cookie store, you name it. > > > > How did all this happen? My understanding of what she said is that it > > started like a kind of "benign dictatorship". A few decades ago, the state > > governor decreed - it shall be so! The main street downtown was turned > > into a pedestrian mall in a single weekend, on the governor's orders, and > > things have kind of evolved from there. > > > > It is a university town, with (I think), the oldest university in Brazil. > > > > happy days, > > Wayne Groszko groszko@atm.dal.ca -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- The preceding message was posted on the Sustainable Maritimes mailing list (sust-mar). http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/lists/sust-mar -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Sponsors: Chebucto Community Net http://www.chebucto.ns.ca Sierra Club - Chebucto Group http://www.sierraclub.ca Volunteer moderator: Paul Falvo mailto:sust-mar-owner@chebucto.ns.ca PLEASE SEND MESSAGES TO SUST-MAR IN PLAIN TEXT ONLY MESSAGES CONTAINING HTML (MIME) CANNOT BE POSTED
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