People Over Cars Turns Congestion into World‑Leading Mobility In a southern Brazilian city, a people‑first vision turned a car‑clogged metropolis into a world leader for three decades, with 99% of residents saying they were happy with their city. Instead of demolishing old buildings and widening the main street, Mayor Lerner paved it and closed it to traffic, creating Brazil’s first pedestrian mall—the Street of Flowers—which grew to span 15 blocks. A commitment to simplicity shaped arterial corridors with three parallel roads—one inbound, one outbound, and a central two‑way busway with dedicated lanes. Triple‑articulated buses and glass boarding tubes cut boarding time, with buses arriving every 60 seconds to speed passengers through the center. Ridership rose from 25,000 to over 2 million passengers a day, the system runs without subsidy, costs 100–200 times less than a subway, and was implemented in under two years.
Parks, Co‑Responsibility, and Dignity Build Sustainable Urban Life An extensive ring of parks converted previously unusable, flood‑prone land into leisure space, letting rivers overflow into parklands instead of concrete canals and lifting surrounding land values. With four times the recommended green space per resident, lawn care became sustainable through urban shepherding. Amid persistent urban poverty, an “equation of co‑responsibility” exchanged cleaned slum areas and collected recyclables for food, reflecting daily respect for people. Families living illegally on wetlands were moved to serviced neighborhoods with roads, electricity, and running water, given low‑interest mortgages, free house designs by city architects, and skills training that supplied much of the workforce. The guiding belief remained constant—improve cities for people through mobility, sustainability, and identity—and the experience now informs other cities seeking a sustainable future.