THE FUTURE OF MONEY Bernard A. Lietaer - library.uniteddiversity ...

and a higher educational level than comparative Brazilian cities. It is
the only city in Brazil that has actually turned down grants from the
federal government, because they have solutions which involve less
red tape.
· A botanical garden has been planted on what was once the inner
city dump, which now serves as a recreation and research centre. In
addition, there are currently 16 different nature parks around the
city, based on different themes. As a consequence, Curitiba has 52
square metres of nature per inhabitant. The UN ideal standard is 48
square metres of green surface per city inhabitant, a level rarely, if
ever, reached by cities in either the developed First or the Third
World. Furthermore, all these parks are easily accessible from the
transport network, so that the ordinary people can - and do - fully
take advantage of them.
.Curitiba was recognised in 1992 by the United Nations as the
world's model ecological town. And Jaime tamer has received
international recognition for his initiatives. Some other cities have
started to take notice. About 20 cities in Brazil have started to
implement the integrated public transport system. Cape Town has
copied several features of it. City planners from Buenos Aims,
Santiago de Chile, Montreal, Pam, Prague, Mexico and Lagos have
been impressed by what they saw.
Perhaps the dearest political signal that all this works is that every
time Jaime Lerner presented himself for election, he was re-elected by
a landslide. Today, he is Governor of the State of Parana. A
movement has started to draft him as next President of Brazil.
The Curitiba story demonstrates that there are political careers to be
made in relation to complementary currency. Jaime Lerner's success
cannot be attributed simply to personal charisma or ethnic
background. The proof is that not one but at least three political