Environmental Systems and Societies · Case studies

ECS.16 — Curitiba, Brazil: sustainable urban planning

Environmental Systems and Societies · SL / HL · syllabus-mapped notes

1. Overview

   A southern Brazilian city that became a global model for integrated, low-cost sustainable urban planning from the 1970s.

2. Systems and sustainability angle

   Managing an urban system's flows: transport, land use, green space and waste designed to work together rather than in isolation.

3. Management and response

   Bus Rapid Transit, park-based flood control and a rubbish-for-food scheme, set against sprawl and rising car use.

4. HL lens angle

   The economics of a cheap transit system and incentive design that internalise the costs a car-based city ignores.