There's a large needy population, swollen each month by 1,700 peasants flowing in from the countryside. The city's architecture is unexceptional. But look across the continents and you'll not likely find a better managed city. And not due to some tight, buttoned-down management scheme. But rather because Curitaba, since urban visionary Jaime Lerner became its mayor in 1971, has pioneered one remarkable social or physical innovation after another.
Downtown has delightful pedestrian-only streets.
Over 1,100 tax-relieved private woodlands allow rain to soak in where it falls. Volunteer citizens, since the 70s, have planted over 1.5 million trees along streets and avenues. Fifty of them, brightly colored, glassy lighthouse-shaped towers, are spotted through the neighborhoods, providing thousands of books and now Internet connections for citizens aged 3 to 80. Lerner, now governor of Parana, Curitiba's state, and potential Brazilian presidential candidate, reminds a visitor that Curitiba has the problems of all Latin American cities, tough slums included. They're willing to build their own simple housing, especially with a little architectural counsel and utility connections.