472
A. M. Osorio Guzmán et al.
since 2015. The indexes fell in 14% (7 million tickets) comparing 2017 to 2016
(RPC 2017). That reduction was due to an increase of the tickets prices. Other reasons
related to the declining number of passengers are the migration to alternative modes
of transportation and the economic crisis.
On the other hand, the number of bike paths has been increasing, and the installation of low speed lines in the Central District has been attracting attention. The
first Via Calma (low speed line) in Brazil was inaugurated in 2014, having a 6.3 km
extension, and it was created to enable the traffic sharing among drivers, motorcyclists and bicyclists. The maximum speed allowed is 30 km/h and the project plans
to extend to other regions of the city (Curitiba 2015).
According to the IPPUC studies made in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 demonstrates that the Via Calma installation was responsible for the cyclist’s traffic increasing in 132% on Sete de Setembro street (Curitiba 2016). To the cyclists, beyond the
new projects and alternative routes implantation, a new kind of technology has arrived
in the city, a new bridge located in Centro Cívico district, has been installed over the
Belém river with a power generator paving that is in the testing phase. The project is
part of city hall plans and has resources from a Japanese technology company. The
paving captures the vibration transmitted by the bikes and pedestrians that converts
in enough energy to illuminate the traffics lights along the way. One of the project
goals consists of increasing the safety on the bike paths. This kind of initiative may
guide the planning and system improvements by using sustainable measures, which
are capable to increase the life quality of people.
There is a recent return of activity in public spaces in the Curitiba Central district,
after a period of progressive emptiness from the 1990s. It is interesting to evaluate
the creation of proposals for the District’s streets to be used as places of encounter
and experience rather than just for mobility. Public spaces can contribute to the
creation of links between the state and society, through different forms of use that
strengthen citizenship. Public spaces also have the potential to serve as places that
value the human-nature relationships towards sustainability. In terms of mobility, it
is important that public authorities put into practice what is being planned, such as
projected cycle paths, and to spread new technologies in the city that contribute to a
sustainable environment. It is worth emphasizing the need to think of alternatives to
stimulate the use of public transport, reducing traffic in the central area, as well as
the emission of pollutants by the large number of automobiles.
6 Curitiba’s Urban Metabolism and the Central District
This chapter reviews the systems related to Curitiba’s urban metabolism of water,
sewage, energy, food, building materials and solid waste, and the role of the Central
District in them. Population and land use are key issues of this approach: the percentage of inhabitants of the municipality of Curitiba (1,751,907 inhabitants) that lives
in the Central District (37,283 inhabitants) is just the 2.13%, but its population can
multiply five times during the day with a floating population of ca. 200,000 people.
A. M. Osorio Guzmán et al.
since 2015. The indexes fell in 14% (7 million tickets) comparing 2017 to 2016
(RPC 2017). That reduction was due to an increase of the tickets prices. Other reasons
related to the declining number of passengers are the migration to alternative modes
of transportation and the economic crisis.
On the other hand, the number of bike paths has been increasing, and the installation of low speed lines in the Central District has been attracting attention. The
first Via Calma (low speed line) in Brazil was inaugurated in 2014, having a 6.3 km
extension, and it was created to enable the traffic sharing among drivers, motorcyclists and bicyclists. The maximum speed allowed is 30 km/h and the project plans
to extend to other regions of the city (Curitiba 2015).
According to the IPPUC studies made in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 demonstrates that the Via Calma installation was responsible for the cyclist’s traffic increasing in 132% on Sete de Setembro street (Curitiba 2016). To the cyclists, beyond the
new projects and alternative routes implantation, a new kind of technology has arrived
in the city, a new bridge located in Centro Cívico district, has been installed over the
Belém river with a power generator paving that is in the testing phase. The project is
part of city hall plans and has resources from a Japanese technology company. The
paving captures the vibration transmitted by the bikes and pedestrians that converts
in enough energy to illuminate the traffics lights along the way. One of the project
goals consists of increasing the safety on the bike paths. This kind of initiative may
guide the planning and system improvements by using sustainable measures, which
are capable to increase the life quality of people.
There is a recent return of activity in public spaces in the Curitiba Central district,
after a period of progressive emptiness from the 1990s. It is interesting to evaluate
the creation of proposals for the District’s streets to be used as places of encounter
and experience rather than just for mobility. Public spaces can contribute to the
creation of links between the state and society, through different forms of use that
strengthen citizenship. Public spaces also have the potential to serve as places that
value the human-nature relationships towards sustainability. In terms of mobility, it
is important that public authorities put into practice what is being planned, such as
projected cycle paths, and to spread new technologies in the city that contribute to a
sustainable environment. It is worth emphasizing the need to think of alternatives to
stimulate the use of public transport, reducing traffic in the central area, as well as
the emission of pollutants by the large number of automobiles.
6 Curitiba’s Urban Metabolism and the Central District
This chapter reviews the systems related to Curitiba’s urban metabolism of water,
sewage, energy, food, building materials and solid waste, and the role of the Central
District in them. Population and land use are key issues of this approach: the percentage of inhabitants of the municipality of Curitiba (1,751,907 inhabitants) that lives
in the Central District (37,283 inhabitants) is just the 2.13%, but its population can
multiply five times during the day with a floating population of ca. 200,000 people.