This week’s reading was about urban development in Curitiba. The main idea is about making choices with the pragmatic application of the principle of recycling. In the case of Curitiba this relates to solid waste, buses (mobile schools), houses (refurbishment) and people (low-income people being employed in the garbage separation plant and environmental education) (Rabinovitch 72).
For urban development planning, the author suggests to establish close relationships between the public transportation system, the land use legislation and the hierarchy of the urban road network. Not all cities are need metro underground systems and light rail systems. Rather, the planning should be the people living in the development. For example, total priority should be given to public transport rather than private cars and to pedestrians rather than to motorized vehicles. Cities have come to be built around highway systems and cars, often neglecting the cities’ natural structure and excluding the public who cannot afford a car or motorized vehicle.
The author suggests that cities should turn problems into resources. In this case, public transportation, solid waste and unemployment can become generators of new resources and employment (73). Some of these resources could be substitutes for capital intensive technologies, saving money for the city.
