ABSTRACT
Starting in the 1950s, Brazilian cities went through a rapid urbanization process. The city of Curitiba started its process of significant growth in the 1960s, yet it rapidly reached the highest growth rate in the country, an average of over five percent a year. This unprecedented urban growth, which repeated in other cities in Brazil and around the world, caused numerous urban problems that led many metropolises into crises. Faced with the imminent need to address this growth, in 1965 a preliminary urban plan for Curitiba was developed. The Master PlanPiano Diretor-was approved in 1966, based on a radial, axial model of urban expansion that integrated transportation and mixed land use principles.
