514
inability of municipal collection vehicles to navigate the steep unpaved roads of the
favelas. Lerner determined how much it would cost for the trucks to collect the trash
from the favelas, and instead rerouted this money toward purchasing produce from
local peri-urban farmers growing food just outside of the city limits that could be
exchanged for the trash that the favela residents would bring down from their neighborhoods themselves. In this way, the Green Exchange Program simultaneously
supported Curitiba’s food system by supporting local farmers and food access for
low-income residents, while also addressing sanitary concerns such as the accumulation of garbage and the resultant risk of water contamination and spread of disease
(potentially water-borne) within Curitiba’s most impoverished communities.
Another area in which Lerner’s pragmatism resulted in innovations at the FEW
Nexus is stormwater management through Curitiba’s city parks and green spaces.
When Lerner took office in 1971, Curitiba maintained one public park in the City
center, which amounted to about two square feet of green space per City resident.
In response to flooding concerns, the City had access to federal funding to channelize the City’s five rivers. However, Lerner and his administration took a different
approach. Instead of enclosing the City’s rivers in cement channels, the City developed 28 public parks and gardens harnessing the power of natural floodplains, many
using stormwater retention ponds and other green infrastructure projects as their
centerpieces. By developing public park space for large-scale stormwater management, Curitiba provided its residents with functional recreational assets while also
reducing stormwater treatment energy demands and flooding risk in the context of
climate change.
The final major aspect of Curitiba’s FEW innovations is its use of sustainable
land use and transit planning to reduce transportation energy use and ensure that all
residents are able to achieve sufficient mobility to access basic needs including
food and health care (the affordability criterion). As air pollution and traffic congestion continued to be significant concerns during the mid-twentieth century, the
City made the decision to create a system of transportation axes (the policy criterion) to funnel traffic in and out of the City efficiently while promoting the use of
public transit through a highly efficient and well-used bus rapid transit system
(reducing the footprint). The plan called for one axis to serve motorists coming
into the City, the middle axis to be dedicated to rapid transit bus service traveling
both ways, and the third axis serving motorists leaving the city. The City paid transit providers by the mile, which created incentives to fill as many seats as possible. Equity was supported through the distribution of transit tokens in return for
trash collected by community members. The City’s Master Plan called for the
highest density development concentrated along these corridors, with density
tapering off gradually with increased distance from them. The creation of the structural axes encouraged Curitiba’s residents to use public transit and to settle near the
City center, promoting density. Over time, these actions played an important role
in limiting suburban sprawl, which resulted in energy savings through reductions
in fuel usage and also avoided unnecessary expansion of the City’s energy and
water infrastructures.
C. Harris et al.
inability of municipal collection vehicles to navigate the steep unpaved roads of the
favelas. Lerner determined how much it would cost for the trucks to collect the trash
from the favelas, and instead rerouted this money toward purchasing produce from
local peri-urban farmers growing food just outside of the city limits that could be
exchanged for the trash that the favela residents would bring down from their neighborhoods themselves. In this way, the Green Exchange Program simultaneously
supported Curitiba’s food system by supporting local farmers and food access for
low-income residents, while also addressing sanitary concerns such as the accumulation of garbage and the resultant risk of water contamination and spread of disease
(potentially water-borne) within Curitiba’s most impoverished communities.
Another area in which Lerner’s pragmatism resulted in innovations at the FEW
Nexus is stormwater management through Curitiba’s city parks and green spaces.
When Lerner took office in 1971, Curitiba maintained one public park in the City
center, which amounted to about two square feet of green space per City resident.
In response to flooding concerns, the City had access to federal funding to channelize the City’s five rivers. However, Lerner and his administration took a different
approach. Instead of enclosing the City’s rivers in cement channels, the City developed 28 public parks and gardens harnessing the power of natural floodplains, many
using stormwater retention ponds and other green infrastructure projects as their
centerpieces. By developing public park space for large-scale stormwater management, Curitiba provided its residents with functional recreational assets while also
reducing stormwater treatment energy demands and flooding risk in the context of
climate change.
The final major aspect of Curitiba’s FEW innovations is its use of sustainable
land use and transit planning to reduce transportation energy use and ensure that all
residents are able to achieve sufficient mobility to access basic needs including
food and health care (the affordability criterion). As air pollution and traffic congestion continued to be significant concerns during the mid-twentieth century, the
City made the decision to create a system of transportation axes (the policy criterion) to funnel traffic in and out of the City efficiently while promoting the use of
public transit through a highly efficient and well-used bus rapid transit system
(reducing the footprint). The plan called for one axis to serve motorists coming
into the City, the middle axis to be dedicated to rapid transit bus service traveling
both ways, and the third axis serving motorists leaving the city. The City paid transit providers by the mile, which created incentives to fill as many seats as possible. Equity was supported through the distribution of transit tokens in return for
trash collected by community members. The City’s Master Plan called for the
highest density development concentrated along these corridors, with density
tapering off gradually with increased distance from them. The creation of the structural axes encouraged Curitiba’s residents to use public transit and to settle near the
City center, promoting density. Over time, these actions played an important role
in limiting suburban sprawl, which resulted in energy savings through reductions
in fuel usage and also avoided unnecessary expansion of the City’s energy and
water infrastructures.
C. Harris et al.