Jaime Lerner

Jaime Lerner (born December 17, 1937) is a Brazilian

politician. He was the governor of the state of Paran,
in southern Brazil. He is renowned as an architect and
urban planner, having been mayor of Curitiba, capital of
Paran, three times (197175, 197984 and 198992).
In 1994, Lerner was elected governor of Paran, and was
reelected in 1998.[1]

traded bags of groceries and transit passes for bags of

trash. The slums got much cleaner.
Similarly, Curitiba has a nearby bay that was a dumping
ground that would be extremely costly to clean up. Lerner
began a program that paid shermen for any garbage they
retrieved (by the pound). This way, they can make money
even outside shing season, supplementing their income.
The savings to Curitiba is in the millions.

Lerner instituted many innovative social and educational

programs. Barrio kids can be apprenticed to city employees if they don't want to go to school. Although his term
Lerner was born to a Jewish family originally from d, as mayor is not without controversy, Curitiba does not
Poland which emigrated to Curitiba. He graduated from have the gangs of much more populous cities such as Rio
the Escola de Arquitetura da Universidade Federal do de Janeiro.
Paran; (Architecture School of the Federal University
of Paran) in 1964. In 1965, he helped create the Instituto de Pesquisa e Planejamento Urbano de Curitiba
(Institute of Urban Planning and Research of Curitiba,
also known as IPPUC) and participated in the design of
the Curitiba Master Plan.

Early life

As Mayor of Curitiba
Bi-articulated bus of Curitiba

In 1988, Jaime Lerner announced his candidacy for

mayor of Curitiba with only 12 days remaining before
the election. During his rst term, Lerner implemented
the Rede Integrada de Transporte (also called Bus Rapid
Transit), and continued to implement a host of social,
ecological, and urban reforms during his ensuing terms
as mayor.
As mayor, Lerner employed unorthodox solutions to Curitibas geographic challenges. Like many cities, Curitiba
is bordered by oodplain. Wealthier cities in the United
States, such as New Orleans and Sacramento, have built
expensive and expensive-to-maintain levee systems on
oodplain. In contrast, Curitiba purchased the oodplain
and made parks. The city now ranks among the world
leaders in per-capita park area. Curitiba had the problem of its status as a third-world city, unable to aord the
tractors and petroleum to mow these parks. The innovative response was municipal sheep who keep the parks
vegetation under control and whose wool funds childrens
programs.

Tube-shaped bus shelter in Curitiba, created during the Lerner

era

Perhaps the crown jewel of Curitibas achievements is its

Bus Rapid Transit system (called Speedybus). Originally, the city was given federal money to build a subway (Curitiba is not a small town), but Lerner discovered that heavy rail like a subway costs ten times the
amount for light rail (trolleys), which, in turn, costs ten
times a bus system, even with dedicated bus ways. The

When Lerner became mayor, Curitiba had some barrios

impossible to service by municipal waste removal. The
streets were too narrow. Rather than abandon these
people or raze these slums, Lerner began a program that
1

7 NOTES

light rail savings usually touted to sway municipal de- 5 Writing

cision makers occur because even trolleys can have relatively fewer drivers than a 40-60 passenger bus. Lerner Lerners publications include:
got Volvo to make 270 person Swedish articulated buses
(300 Brazilians, says Lerner),[2] so that the problem of a
Acupuntura urbana (Editora Record, ISBN 85-01lower passenger-number-to-driver ratio was no longer an
06851-9, 2003)
issue. The city built attractive transit stops with the look
and feel of train stations, and all with handicapped access
O vizinho: parente por parte de rua (Editora Record,
equipment, inducing private rms to purchase and operISBN 85-01-06877-2, 2005)
ate the buses. A hierarchy of buses of six sizes feed one
other. The city controls the routes and fares, while the
private companies hire drivers and maintain equipment. 6 Awards
Natural land-use patterns within the city of Curitiba support public transit systems. Buildings along the dedicated Lerner has won a variety of Brazilian and international
bus ways are up to six stories tall, gradually giving way, prizes:
within a few blocks, to single story homes. This mix of
densities ensures sucient user population within walk 1990: United Nations Environmental Award,
ing distance of bus stops.
awarded by the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP)

As Governor of Paran

As governor, Lerner used a policy of attracting investment to turn Paran into one of Brazils industrial hubs,
generating investments of over US$20 billion between
1995 and 2001. Following upon his experience in Curitiba, Lerner focused on issues like transport, education,
health, sanitation, leisure, and industrialization.
UNICEF awarded Lerner the Child and Peace Prize in
1996 for his programs "'Da Rua para a Escola'" (From
the Street to School), "'Protegendo a Vida'" (Protecting
Life), and "'Universidade do Professor'" (Professors University).
In 2011, Lerner was condemned to three years and a half
of prison for the illegal layo of a public tender during
his mandate as governor. He wasn't arrested due to his
age.[3]

Post-political career

At the General Assembly of the International Union of

Architects in July 2002, Lerner was elected president for
a period of three years.[4] Lerner is also a professor of
Urban and Regional Planning at the Universidade Federal
do Paran, his graduated university, and has been a guest
professor at the University of California, Berkeley.
In April 2005, Jaime Lerner participated in the Symposium of China Bus Rapid Transit Initiative (Shanghai) to
promote the BRT project in some larger cities. He was
specially interviewed [5] which made an impact on mayors and urban planners across China.
Lerner is a member of the Board of Directors of World
Resources Institute.[6][7]

1990: Annual Prize of the International Institute for

Energy Conservation (IIEC)
1991: Scroll of Honor, United Nations Human Settlements Programme, 1991
1991: Tree of Learning, IUCN, 1991
1994: Neutra Medal for Professional Excellence: In
recognition for his contributions to the Environmental Design Profession and in honor of Modernist architect Richard Neutra,.[8]
1996: Child and Peace Award, UNICEF
1997: Thomas Jeerson Foundation Medal in Architecture, University of Virginia
2000: Prince Claus Award, the Netherlands (2000)
2001: Pioneer 2001, International Council for Caring Communities (ICCC-USA)
2001: 2001 World Technology Award for Transportation, National Museum of Science and Industry, UK
2011: Leadership in Transport Award of the
International Transport Forum at the OECD
2012: Honorary Doctorate of Arts, Plymouth University [9]

7 Notes
[1] Power, Mike. Common sense and the city: Jaime Lerner,
Brazils green revolutionary. The Guardian.
[2] Acupuntura urbana, 2003
[3]

[4] Jaime Lerner, UIA President, 20022005

[5] Listen Talks of the Father in BRT
[6] World Resources Institute Biosketch of Jaime Lerner. Accessed March 27, 2012.
[7] RELEASE: WRI Announces Three New Board Members
Representing Business, Academia, and Government. Accessed March 27, 2012.
[8] http://www.csupomona.edu/~{}arc/neutra_award.html
[9] http://www1.plymouth.ac.uk/graduation/
honorarydegrees/honoraries2012/Pages/Jaime-Lerner.
aspx

External links
Ocial website
Jaime Lerner at TED
A song of the city (TED2007)
Royal Institute of British Architecture International
Dialogues Talk: The Sustainable City, Jaime Lerner
(Video) 2009

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