Curitiba
Making a Livable City by Linking Land
Use, Transportation and Urban Design

1965 Curitiba Master Plan
To limit central area growth and encouraging commercial and service sector
growth along two structural north-south transport arteries, radiating out from the
city center.
To provide economic support for urban development through the establishment
of industrial zones
To encourage local community self-sufficiency by providing all city districts with
adequate education, health care, recreation, and park areas.
To promote linear development of the city, reducing the traditional importance
of the downtown area as the primary focus of all transport activity, thereby
minimizing congestion.
To integrate traffic management, transportation, and land-use planning to
achieve its goals, and maintained flexibility in its regulations to allow for different
future development scenarios.
To create the Institute of Urban Research and Planning of Curitiba (IPPUC) to
coordinate, modify, and oversee Plan implementation.

(1) Transportation
The new arteries, which also traverse the city through the CBD, were established on previously
existing streets following demographic growth trends. A ring road around the CBD was developed
to allow travel between city sections without passing through the downtown area.

Dedicated Bus Lanes
Each of the five arteries contains
one two-way lane devoted
exclusively to express buses.
This inner lane is flanked on
either side by 1) a local access
lane for cars and 2) a high-
capacity one-way route for use
by both cars and buses.
Result: 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.

Transport Efficiency buses carry 1.9 million passengers
(2003). 5 types of buses:
• Express buses exclusively on the
arteries' dedicated busways.
• \"Rapid\" buses on both the arteries and
on other main streets throughout the
city, with routes changed to respond
to demand.
• A \"bi-articulated\" bus on the outside
high-capacity lanes. The largest in the
world, they are actually three buses
attached by two articulations -> 270
passengers.
• \"Inter-district\" buses linking the
arteries,.
• “Feeder” buses mixing with traffic on
all other city streets and bringing
passengers to transfer stations called
\"District Terminals,\" around which
local urban development and
commercial activity has flourished.

Bus stop Innovations

Transportation & Environment
Buses are privately-owned by ten
companies, managed by a quasi-public
company. They 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,
Curitiba's gasoline use per capita is 30
percent below that of eight comparable
Brazilian cities.
The city's bus line accounts for 70%
of total transport and, partly as a Other results include negligible emissions
result, Curitiba's per capita energy levels, little congestion, and an extremely
use is 30% lower than in comparable pleasant living environment. The bus mass
transportation system covers 8 neighboring
Brazilian cities.
cities with an 89% passenger approval rate.

(2) Land-Use Zoning
• Zoning requires mixed- use high-density
development along the north-south
structural arteries in order to create the
necessary population to support
profitable public transport use.
• Thus, residential development focuses
along the arteries, with essential services
such as water, sewage, light, telephones,
and public transportation provided.
• Further residential development occurs
in four designated zones, in which all
development must occur within close
proximity of bus routes.
• An industrial park (called the
\"Industrial City\") was built in 1973 in
the western part of the city and plays an
important part in the local economy.
Source: Birk, M.L. and P.C. Zegras, 1993, Moving Toward Integrated Transport Planning: Energy, Environment, and Mobility
in Four Asian Cities. International Institute for Energy Conservation, Washington, D.C.

City Center -- No Cars

Linear Urban Expansion
Large buildings
holding a high density of
people were permitted to
be built along corridors,
with admissible densities
declining from urban
apartment buildings to
residential neighborhoods
with distance from the
corridors
Commercial development and housing along transportation arteries

(3) Urban Design
“24 Hour Street” --
Safe nightlife for youth in the center

Innovative Public Spaces
Museum & Opera House
built in an abandoned quarry

Cultural heritages
Japanese Garden

Environment and City Management
Curitiba adopted out a number of eco-friendly and social programs
during the 1980s.
“Green areas” protected from future development were established
in Curitiba, and a number of parks were dedicated to the city’s
different ethnic and immigrant groups.
Curitiba’s transit system was expanded, and a color-coded system
for the various bus lines was created.
Regional administrations were established to decentralize
government.
A citywide recycling program was initiated in which Curitibanos
separated organic waste and trash, plastic, glass, and metal. The city
sold the salvage to cover the costs of operation.
The city went from 2 sq ft (0.18 m2) of green per person up to
1960s to 150 sq ft (14 m2) by 1990s.

The “green exchange” employment program focuses on social
Equity & inclusion, benefiting both those in need and the environment.
Low-income families living in shantytowns unreachable by
truck bring their trash bags to neighborhood centers, where
Environment 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
Bus Ticket & poor. There’s also a program for children where they can
groceries for trash exchange recyclable garbage for school supplies, chocolate,
toys and tickets for shows.
Extending to money
for waste collection
Under the “garbage that’s not garbage” program, 70% of the
from waterways city’s trash is recycled by its residents. Once a week, a truck
collects paper, cardboard, metal, plastic and glass that has
been sorted in the city’s homes. The city’s paper recycling
Downtown areas were alone saves the equivalent of 1,200 trees a day. As well as the
transformed into pedestrian environmental benefits, money raised from selling materials
streets, including a 24-hour goes into social programs, and the city employs the homeless
mall with shops, restaurants and recovering alcoholics in its garbage separation plant.
and cafes, and a street of
flowers with gardens tended Open University, created by the city, lets residents take
by street kids. courses in many subjects such as mechanics, hair styling and
environmental protection for a small fee. Retired city buses
are often used as mobile schools or offices.