Founded in 1693 as a gold-mining
camp,
CURITIBA was of little
importance until 1853 when it was
made capital of Paraná. Since then,
the city's population has steadily
risen from a few thousand, reaching
140,000 in 1940 and some 1.5 million
today. It's said that Curitiba is
barely a Brazilian city at all, a
view that has some basis. The
inhabitants are descendants of
Polish, German, Italian and other
immigrants who settled in Curitiba
and in surrounding villages that
have since been engulfed by the
expanding metropolis. On average,
Curitibanos
enjoy Brazil's highest standard of
living: the city boasts health,
education and public transport
facilities that are the envy of
other parts of the country. There
are
favelas, but they're well
hidden and, because of the cool,
damp winters, sturdier than those in
cities to the north. The wooden
houses of Curitiba's lower and
middle classes often resemble those
of frontier homesteads and
frequently betray their inhabitants'
Central or Eastern European origins,
with half-hip roofs, carved window
frames and elaborate trelliswork. As
elsewhere in Brazil, the rich live
in mansions and luxury condominiums,
but even these are a little less
ostentatious, and need fewer
security precautions, than usual.
Many nineteenth- and early
twentieth-century buildings have
been saved from the developers who,
since the 1960s, have ravaged most
Brazilian cities, and there's a
clearly defined historic quarter
where colonial buildings have been
preserved. Much of the centre is
closed to traffic and, in a country
where the car has become a symbol of
development, planners from all over
Brazil and beyond descend on
Curitiba to discover how a city can
function effectively when
pedestrians and buses are given
priority. Thanks in part to the
relative lack of traffic, it's a
pleasure just strolling around and,
what's more, you can wander around
the city, day or night, in safety.
One result of its being so
untypical of Brazil is that few
visitors bother to remain in
Curitiba longer than it takes to
change buses or planes. At most,
they stay for a night, prior to
taking the early morning train to
the coast. But it deserves more than
this: although there's some truth in
the image of northern European
dullness, Curitiba's attractive
buildings, interesting museums and
variety of restaurants make a stay
here pleasant - if not over -
exciting.
