Curitiba, Brazil

The urban population in Curitiba, Brazil is rapidly growing. With this population growth came the development of squatter settlements.  The population is still increasing in these settlements. This makes Curitiba an example of the impact of extended urbanization in environmentally vulnerable areas. The development of informal settlements within its water supply watersheds has caused many issues. These settlements formed in areas where certain services could not always available, such as sewage systems, water, and transportation.  These areas are located in areas that are environmentally at-risk.

However, despite the problems the favelas, or slums, created for Curitiba, the city’s urban planning is striving to provide solutions to these problems. Since the location of these settlements is one of the main causes of the issues, the city designated tracts of land for these settlements in order to coincide with the rest of the city’s structure. With the change in city planning, inhabitants can be incorporated in the city’s infamous bus system.  The city’s goal is to better the city. This could be accomplished through the Integrated Social and Development Program for the Municipality of Curitiba. The goal is to better the overall quality of life of the inhabitants. The program aims to improve sanitation and housing in favelas, better the transportation system, and extend services to low-income areas. This city serves as a model for many cities because of their solutions to their city’s problems. 

The Evolving Transit System in Curitiba

A Brief History:

·         Brazil’s motto is known as “Order and Progress”, which is illuminated in their efforts to form creative approaches to deal with overcrowding, poverty, pollution while dealing with the strains of limited public spending

·         1854- Population surpassed 50,000 people

·         1940- Curitiba experiencing rapid growth due to people being attracted to their thriving agriculture

o   It is that thriving agriculture that brought three times the population to Curitiba, in turn creating a high demand for a new transit system in order to keep up with the ever-growing population

o   Alfred Agache, an architect, was hired to reduce traffic congestion with the ever-populated streets

§  Rerouted traffic patterns in an arc-like manner, creating patterns that stem out from this city to reduce clogged streets downtown

·         1960- Population increased to 430,00 people, therefore causing Agache’s plan to be ill-suited for such growth

o   Needed a new plan to reduce the ever-increasing flow of downtown traffic while also proving accessible, cost efficient public transit system

o   New architect, Lerner, created a new plan to add several main linear transit arteries in an effort to increase the speed of routes in and out of the city- more direct routes. Her plan was adopted in 1968

·         1970- Rua Quinze de Novembro was created, becoming Brazil’s first and only solely pedestrian street

o   Also included the development of the “Systema Trinario”, a trinary road designed that allowed for a central, two-lane raod reserved strictly for buses and local traffic between two rapidly-moving, highly traveled one way streets

·         1980- “Green Era”- The current transit system was expanded to include color coding the bus lines

·         1990’s- Population had reach 1.4 million people, clearly calling for another reformation to the transit system

o   New multicabin buses were created, housing approximately up to 270 people

o   Additionally, “Tubes” (high speed bus stops) were created in an effort to decrease congestion and increase reliance on the bus system

·         Turn of the 21^st Century- Population had reached 1.8 million people, again calling for a modification of the transit system

o   A sight-seeing bus line was implemented in order to relieve congestion

o   Also, further implementation of bus tubes were created in order to speed the boarding process and speed of the bus system

Why were these Efforts so great?

·         Curitiba was able to find an alternative method of altering the transit system rather than completely uprooting the current transit system and building a new system, a venture the city could ill afford

·         The city was able to improvise with the current roadways and bus system in an effort to create an improved, more heavily traveled transit system

·         Curitiba’s transit system was so successful and so highly praised that it was emulated in dozens of cities around the world

·         Curitiba’s new transit system was 1/10 the cost of a subway transit system

·         Over the spans of 20 years, bus rides skyrocketed 400%

·         The buses in the transit system:

o   Travel more than 275,000 miles a day

o   Make over 21,000 plus trips

o   Have the same fare, regardless of how far you are going in one direction

o   Over 60% of the population travels by bus

o   System is organized according to citizen’s daily needs, whether it requires them to go to the grocery store or receive medical aid

Funding for the transit system

·         Funding from both private and public sources

o   Public funding from the city’s transit authority

o   Privately contracted to 22 companies that in turn operate the bus and taxi system

o   The private companies share the revenues generated from the transit system with the city

The Color-coded bus system in place today:

·         Regional buses- Colored Orange- carry passengers from outlying neighborhoods into the city

·         Above-ground transit- Colored red- Comprised of two-three cabins rung together, stop as the previously mention “tubes”

·         City Street Buses- Colored yellow- carry passengers between main transit routes and suburban residential neighborhoods

·         Express Service- Colored grey- A speedy transit alternative from the suburban region to the flourishing downtown

·         Health Care Transit- Colored Blue- Runs between hospitals

·         Tourist Buses- Colored White- Allow visitors an easy, affordable way to see the sites of Curitiba while also reducing congestion

Bus tubes in Curitiba

Effects of Urbanization in Curitiba

Urbanization and its effects on Curitiba, Brazil

·         Urbanization- is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change.

·         Urbanization occurs in all societies, mainly from individual and corporate efforts to improve all aspects of a community including transportation, jobs, education, and housing

·         Urban expansion offers the opportunity for increased quality of life because of the created jobs and improvement of neighborhoods and social mobility.

·         Major effects of Urbanization include specialized goods for cities in certain geographical areas as well as accumulate more capital from its residents as well as its surrounding areas which start to rely on the overall convenience of the good and services created by expansion.

·         Urbanization is often viewed as a negative trend, but can in fact, be perceived simply as a natural occurrence from individual and corporate efforts to reduce expense in commuting and transportation while improving opportunities for jobs, education, housing, and transportation. Living in cities permits individuals and families to take advantage of the opportunities of proximity, diversity, and marketplace competition.

·         After 1950, urbanization struck Curitiba which rapidly increased the city’s population, and set its reputation as a regional hub for business.

·         Major effect- became 2^nd largest car manufacturer in the country

·         Major effect- became best city for the financial sector and its investors to reside

·         Became large tourist area

·         Home to many industries including Nissan, Renault, Volkswagen, Audi, Volvo, HSBC, Siemens, ExxonMobil, Electrolux and Kraft Foods, as well as many well known national industries, such as Sadia, O Boticário, Positivo Informática.

Lima, Peru

General Information

Lima is the capital of Peru. It is also the largest city in the country.

  In the 1940’s, 60% of the population of the country lived in the rural Andean regions.

                       Now 73% of the population lives in the cities, the majority of them on the coast.

City-planning

                The Spanish founded Lima in 1535 before the Laws of the Indies, guidelines providing specifications of how settlements were to be arranged, were established. However, it was still planned in almost the same manner for which the Laws would have called.  The city had a grid pattern, streets radiating from the central plaza, and important buildings and places of residence built around the central plaza. It was located near the Rímac River, which was used for waste removal and irrigation. Lima often experienced tremors (1630 and 1687 were especially bad for earthquakes) and, therefore, could not build higher than two stories.

                Late in 1600s, diagonal roads made it easier to navigate through the city and small plazas improved the city’s beauty. Many wealthy and powerful people flocked to the region raising the population to 30,000 people and making it a cosmopolitan center.  The city was considered the capital of Spanish-American high culture. However, many inhabitants lived in poverty with constant threat of unsanitary conditions and epidemics. These fears of unsanitary conditions are still held today with the great deal of waste in water supplies and air pollution.

Transportation

                Another series of earthquakes in 1746 caused major damage, destroying many buildings. After the destruction of the city walls towards the end of the 19^th century, many changes were made regarding the infrastructure of the city. A beltway was built along the demolished walls, more bridges were constructed over the Rímac River, and avenues and railroads were built to the coast. These all allowed for more efficient travel and caused many upper-class suburbs to arise along the coast. Within the city trolleys, bicycles, and cars provided most of the transportation.

                Today, however, the transportation of the city is causing a great deal of air pollution, a serious problem within the region. Everyday the people of the city breathe in large amounts of airborne particulates and various contaminants. About 6,000 deaths per year are attributed to the inhalation of air pollution within the city. The National Environmental Council estimates that about 8.5 million public transport and 2 million private transport trips are made in one day in the city.

Industrialization

                At the turn of the 20^th century, continued population growth, agricultural stagnation, and economic injustice made life nearly impossible in the rural areas of Peru. This forced many to seek refuge in Lima and look for a job in industry. Most of the industrial area was located in the region northwestward to the port of Callao, while small industry and the working-class sought out housing to the east. By the 1960s Lima had become fully industrialized. With the over-crowding of the city as a result of the industrial movement, the impoverished were forced to move to desert regions on the outskirts of the city and stay in shantytowns.

                The unexpected growth occurring is causing dangerous environmental deterioration, hurting most notably the city’s air and water. Lima’s location in the desert region makes any river or water source (the Rímac, Chillón, and Lurín rivers) vital to survival. However, they are being severely polluted by runoff from mining and agriculture, and are receiving residential and industrial waste from the city. Nearly 500,000 residents are without water service and 15% of Limeños do not have sewer service. As the spread of urban life continues, green space and wetlands are taken away effecting the climate of the area. 

Housing and Living Conditions in Lima

Increase of low-income setlements: barriadas or pueblo jovenes (young towns)

Between 1955-1961 the amount of people in Lima living in shantytowns went up from 10-17%.

Barriadas were in efficient way to develop a city: the process was slow and expensive. It also forced families to live in crowded housing for a while. The government did not offer the poor any aid to help them build houses. After 1961, barriadas were free from having to obtain a building license.

Very few families rented housing in Lima, unlike many other Latin American cities.

The new “young towns” have more problems than the established ones, the settlers in the old ones.

As a result of extended urbanization in Lima, the city suffers from air pollution and contaminated water.

The amount of children with respiratory illnesses went up from 400,000 in 1994 to 1 million children in  2005 according to a study done on Limean children in 2005. 

Fecal contamination was found in water in urban households in Lima, Peru. 28% of water stored for cooking had fecal contamination. 30% of stored boiled drinking water had E. coli. Boiled water was more likely to be contaminated when poured ina drinking cup than when stored.

In one shantytown, informal businesses used homemade furnaces with oil-drum chimneys to melt down lead from car batteries in order to sell it. The children of this area were tested in 2005 to see the amount of lead in their blood, and 26 out of 27 had levels exceeding the recommended amount. However, these “businesses” cannot be shut down because the people of the town rely in them for income.

Shantytown in Lima

Pueblos Jovenes

  

Effects of Urbanization in Lima

The Effects of Urbanization on Lima, Peru         

·         The Effects of Civilization

o   Civilizations are often built around the types of resources that humans need to survive such as fresh water, local wildlife, natural vegetation, and sometimes coastal access. Each of which can be impacted severely by human activity.

o   The industrialization of modern society brought along the expansive need for fossil fuel energy, increased urbanization, and large increases in population densities.

·         The Sewage Dilemma

o   Increases in population densities are problem with regard to waste products associated with modern living and large populations

o   Lima, Peru was developed as a coastal city that is not only dependent on the coast for resources but also the three rivers, Chillón, Rímac, and Lurín, which run through it.

·         Water Pollution

o   Lima’s rapid and unplanned growth has caused severe environmental degradation, especially of the city’s water

o   Rivers that were once used as a fresh water supply for inhabitants for years have now become prime sites for the dumping of much of the waste created by the individuals living in the area.

o   Rivers have also fallen victim to the indirect pollution caused by modern agricultural products such as fertilizers and pesticides, as well as run-off from local mining sites.

o   The amount of potable water in the city has decreased in recent years and almost none of Lima’s slums have a sewer system.

·         Air Pollution

o   In August 2006, air pollution in the center of Peru’s capital, Lima, surpassed the international standard established by the American Agency of Environmental Protection (EPA) by 122.1%, informed Peru’s National Statistics and Information Institute (INEI).

o   Most residents of Lima consider air pollution the most pressing environmental issue. A recent study estimated that respiratory and heart problems related to airborne particulate matter are responsible for some 6,000 deaths per year.

·         The Shantytown Effect

o   With the inclusion of automobiles and aging buses, industry contributes significantly to the problem, especially the countless unregulated factories, home industries, and restaurants that abound in Lima’s shantytowns.

o   In one shantytown known as Asentamiento humano (Human Settlement) on the northern edge of the city, recyclers use homemade furnaces with oil-drum chimneys to melt lead from discarded car batteries into ingots for sale in the informal economy.

o   In July 2005, lead levels exceeding the World Health Organization’s recommended limit were found in the blood of 26 out of 27 children tested in the community.

o   Despite the health risks posed to children, shutting these informal businesses is contentious because such action would impact the livelihoods within the community.

o   The shantytowns of Lima, Peru are home to nearly half of the 8 million resident of Lima. These places are wrought with filth and violence.

o   The homes are typically constructed with cardboard, scraps, dirt, and bamboo. These Pueblos jóvenes (young people) rarely have access to running water or electricity, and what is available is often stolen.

o   Over the years, they have seen devastating malaria and cholera epidemics, as well as fatal political violence.

·         Improvement Projects

o   Peru has made considerable progress in recent years in improving the institutional an legal framework for environmental management. Thus, rules and regulations enacted defining roles in environmental permitting, to strengthen the environmental framework for key industries (mining, energy, forestry) and encouraging better managing of protected natural areas. These measures created the regulatory framework to establish the Ministry of the Environment.

o   In November 2008,, the Peruvian Sanitation Convention gathered over 1200 participants from government, the private sector, and civil society to jointly address the issue of sustainable sanitation that will help address a situation where over half of the people lack access to basic sanitation services and more than 70% of waste water is not treated before final disposal.

Sources

Brunn, Stanley D., Maureen Hays-Mitchell, Donald J. Zeigler, and Ellen R. White. "Cities of South America." Cities of the World: World Regional Urban Development. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2008. 143-98. Print.

Brown, Lester. "The Challenge of Urban Slums." Goodplanet.info. 06 June 2006. Web. 18 Sept. 2011. <http://www.goodplanet.info/eng/Contenu/Points-de-vues/The-Challenge-of-Urban-Slums/(theme)/1407>.

Inter-American Development Bank. "Brazil: Integrated Social and Development Program for the Municipality of Curitiba." Inter-American Development Bank.org. Inter-American Development Bank, 2011. Web. 20 Sept. 2011. <http://www.iadb.org/en/topics/cities/brazil-integrated-social-and-development-program-for-the-municipality-of-curitiba,2855.html>.

Gnatek, Tim. “Curitiba’s Urban Experiment.” Frontline, PBS. http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/fellows/brazil1203/ 

http://www.perufacts.org/lima.html

 http://archive.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/uu23me/uu23me0j.htm#housing

http://enperublog.com/2008/11/27/limas-toxic-smog-of-death-is-now-1177-less-deadly/

http://archive.livinginperu.com/news/3330






Questions:
1. True or False: Lima is the capital of Peru.
2. True or False: Brazil's population reached 14 million in the 1990's.
3. True or False: Urbanization is the physical growth in urban areas intended to improve all aspects of the community.
4. Curitiba is in which country?
A. Peru
B. Mexico
C. Brazil
D. Paraguay
5. In Curitiba, white buses are for:
A. Tourist buses
B. Regional buses
C. City Street buses
D. Health Care transit