In 2007, the city was the third place in a list of "15 Green Cities" in the world, according the American website "Grist". In the same year, the city was featured in the American newspaper "The New York Times"; the news report, with 8 pages, features many changes made in the city, saying that Curitiba remains a destination for urban planners from various parts of the world, fascinated with the public transport system, program for recycling of garbage and the group of parks in the city.
The MasterCard Emerging Markets Index 2008, created to evaluate and compare the performance of cities in different functions that connect markets and commerce worldwide, shows Curitiba as the safest city in Brazil - considering details such as freedom of expression, risk of natural disasters and personal security - in addition to being in 49th position among the cities with the greatest influence in the world.
Curitiba won the "Globe Award Sustainable City 2010" and was chosen unanimously by the committee. At the same year, Curitiba was elected by the "América Economía" Magazine as one of the best cities for doing business in Latin America.
Curitiba used to be a forest where the tribe Tingüi used to live. During the 16th century, Europeans began to go to war with this tribe.
Curitiba is on the first plateau of Paraná, in the most flat area, also called plateau curitibano. It covers a geographical area of 432.17 km², located at 25º25'40"S latitude and 49º16'23"W longitude. The coastline of the state (the Atlantic Ocean) is 70 km away from the city. The capital has a length of 35 km from north to south, and 20 km from east to west.
Distance from Curitiba to some cities of Brazil and Mercosur:
The city has surface area of 432.17 km² in the First Plateau of Paraná. The terrain of Curitiba is a little wavy. The average altitude of the city is 934.6 m above sea level, ranging between minimum and maximum values of 900 and 1,000 meters, approximately.
Curitiba has a wavy topography of smooth rounded hills, an terrain a little wavy, giving a relatively regular appearance.
The municipality of Curitiba has an average altitude of 934.6 m above sea level, where the highest point is to the north (1,021.0 m). To the south is the situation of lower altitude (864.9 m).
There are mountain ranges and sets of rocky elevations in almost all around the city, being the most remarkable and impressive of the "Serra do Mar" (Portuguese for "Mountain Range of the Sea"), in the east that separates the plateau from the coast of Paraná.
Curitiba's climate is usually mild all year round though locals complain that the weather can change at anytime. It can be hot in the winter and cold in the summer. Even in one day, there can be great differences.
The flat terrain, lakes and marshland help its mild damp winters, with an average temperature of 13 °C (57 °F), but it can fall a bit below 0 °C (32 °F) on the coldest days. During summer, the average temperature is around 21 °C (70 °F), but sometimes gets around 32 °C (90 °F) on hot days.
Curitiba is a humid city in the subtropical zone in southern Brazil. It is the coldest of Brazil's twenty-six state capitals, because of the altitude. The city is on a plateau 932 m (3107 ft) above sea level. The city is in the Atlantic Rainforest region with the higher peaks of a mountain range making a barrier that separate it from the Atlantic Ocean just 105 km (65 miles) away.
The catchment area of Curitiba consists of several rivers and streams that cross the city in different directions, grouped in six river basins. The main rivers that form the watershed of the city are: Atuba River, Belém River, Barigüi River, Passaúna River, Ribeirão dos Padilhas and the Iguaçu River, all with characteristics of dendritic drainage. Since the 1970s, Curitiba has working on alternatives to minimize the negative impacts of urbanization on rivers. An example of this was the construction of parks along the rivers with artificial lakes, which retain the water for longer periods of time, minimizing floods. Currently, after many studies about the local water passages, almost all the rivers are in canalization process. Other alternatives developed to minimize the effects of urbanization are the implementation of the programs for environmental education, inspection and monitoring, elaboration and application of legislation and infrastructure works.
The index reaches 1,500 mm rainfall on average per year, because the rain is constant in the climate of the city. It happens, among other reasons, because of the large deforestation of the Mountain Range of the Sea ("Serra do Mar"), a natural barrier to moisture.
Curitiba is in the area of vegetation called Araucaria moist forests, composed of steppes, Araucaria forest and other formations.
In the local vegetation still appear remnants of the parana pine ("Araucaria angustifolia"), which resisted the action of modern civilization. The parana pines are in private and public areas, now protected by environmental legislation which prevents it from being overturned. The Municipal Secretariat of the Environment maintains a botanical garden and three green houses for the annual production of 150,000 seedlings of native and exotic tree species, 16,000 seedlings of fruit trees, 260,000 seedlings of flowers, foliage and underbrush, on top of the total maintenance of 350,000 seedlings. The green area of the city is one of largest in Brazil.
The vegetation of Curitiba is also characterized by the existence of a large quantity of purple and yellow "ipês" (tabebuias), making a spectacle of beauty to the landscape of the city during the flowering in the end of winter. Currently, the yellow ipê is the most common tree in the city.
"Bairros" (neighbourhoods) of Curitiba are geographical divisions of the city. There is no delegation of administrative powers to neighborhoods, although there are several neighborhoods associations devoted to improve their own standards of living.
Curitiba is divided into 9 regional governments (boroughs), covering the 75 neighbourhoods of the city. All districts are served by the system of integrated urban transport.
In the second half of the 19th century many European immigrants formed colonial settlements. These settlements developed into the modern-day districts and neighbourhoods of Curitiba.
The centre ("Downtown" in American English or "CBD" - central business district - in other English use), is the place where the city was founded. It is the busiest area, most of the financial institutions of Curitiba are there.
The growth of urban population of Curitiba, that turned the city in a modern metropolis, has generated some social problems. Like other major Brazilian cities, Curitiba has seen the emergence of slums in some neighborhoods and around the city, and the growth of street inhabitants, that many times had been sent of other cities and States, and are dropped in the streets of the city. This fact has made a small growth of crime level, but is not comparable to other major Brazilian cities.
Moreover, many rivers contains levels of pollution; the landfill (deposit of garbage) is almost full; the public transport sometimes is not enough for the quantity of people (in the rush hour), and the Brazilian government does not yield funds for the construction of a subway in the city.
A variety of architectural styles, ancient and modern, make the urban landscape of Curitiba be very interesting and represent an enormous cultural heritage.
The architecture that is in Curitiba has a strong influence of the culture of immigrants, from various countries, mainly Europe.