Joseli Macedo

Urban parks are community assets, providing people places to play and rest. Access to parks in urban environments promotes social equity and improves quality of life for surrounding neighborhoods. In this context, social equity is related to accessibility, i.e. the possibility of walking or biking from home to a public park, giving people who do not have access to a variety of entertainment an option that is a public good. This paper examines the spatial distribution of urban parks in the city of Curitiba, Brazil, and how it relates to the socio-economic conditions of surrounding neighborhoods. Curitiba is known for its urban parks; however, no systematic study has been conducted to verify which neighborhoods enjoy park access within walking distance and what the socio-economic differences are between the better and worse served neighborhoods. In addition, we investigate if access to green open space has improved between the last two decennial census, a period marked by unprecedented socio-economic affluence in Brazil. Research questions, to be addressed using spatial analysis, focus on equitable distribution, and spatial evolution of parks and social equity. Variables include measurable walking distances from census tracts to parks, income data from the 2000 and 2010 Brazilian decennial censuses, and qualitative data of urban parks in Curitiba. Findings offer recommendations for future implementation of additional parks in Curitiba so that all areas of the city have adequate green open space and all citizens have equal access to recreation and leisure opportunities.

Brasília, the national capital of Brazil, and Putrajaya, the new administrative capital of Malaysia, were created generations apart and on different continents. Brasília was created as an icon of Modernist architecture, while Putrajaya represents the emergence of new symbolic relationships between government and economic prowess. Like most new towns built in the twentieth century, they were made possible by government backing. This paper explores the ideological basis for the production of urban space in the development of seats of national governments. The analysis of Brasília and Putrajaya confirms that governments use urban design in national capitals to represent power.

Curitiba, Brazil, is recognized as a model of urban planning. The city’s innovative practices have been internationally praised for the past twenty years, although the first plans that enabled the urban form that Curitiba has today are rarely acknowledged. Sustainable initiatives were implemented in Curitiba before sustainability became the preferred alternative for development; however, the people behind Curitiba’s innovations have not been properly recognized. This article provides a historical overview of all the urban plans that have made the Curitiba paradigm possible. It also recounts Curitiba’s urban development and planning history through the voices of some of the people who contributed to making it the city that it is today. In addition to archival research, a series of interviews reveals their stories and memories of the experience of planning a city to be the best it can be. Their commentary on Curitiba’s future suggests the work is not done. The article concludes with an appraisal of sustainability within the Curitiba context.

Adapting a methodology to assess housing need is intrinsically difficult, particularly when it must address different levels of development. This paper presents a general discussion of housing needs and assessment methodologies and examines the adaptation of an affordable housing needs assessment methodology developed in the US to produce a method to be applied in developing countries. Specifically, a pilot project was conducted in Brazil, yielding results applicable to any developing country where security of tenure and poverty contribute to the housing problem. Security of tenure, adequacy of shelter and infrastructure, and other concepts are characterized. Cultural, institutional and structural peculiarities of the Brazilian context are explained. The analysis reveals the difficulties of transferring methodologies from developed to developing countries, but also the advantages of looking at seemingly unquantifiable situations through the lenses of a workable model. Results illustrate the application of the adapted methodology and conclusions offer a reflection on the impact of methodology transfer to developing countries.