ABSTRACT
Brazil underwent massive urbanization – or perhaps what is best described as de-ruralization – at such a scale and rate from the 1960s onwards that the country’s municipal administrators have had to face immense new challenges in a very short period of time. New regulatory frameworks coupled with political will and public support were needed for sustainability to become a reality in the lives of a city’s inhabitants. As Mayor of Curitiba, Brazil, for two terms in a row (1997–2000 and 2001–2004), and as a member of the city’s planning team for three other terms, I am proud that urban planners and environmentalists around the globe now point to Curitiba as a world model for sustainable cities.
