PRESENTER: Clara Irazábal

BIO: Architect, Master in Urban Planning, Master in Architecture, Ph.D. Candidate in Architecture (Comparative Urbanism) at UC Berkeley. Candidate in Architecture (Comparative Urbanism) at UC Berkeley. Her dissertation addresses comparative architecture, urbanism and governance in the global age based on the cities of Portland, USA, and Curitiba, Brazil. She has worked as a researcher and professor on urban development in Venezuela, Brazil and the US.

TITLE: Governance and the Practices of Urbanism: The Politics of Development in Curitiba

ABSTRACT: The city of Curitiba, Brazil, is singled out among Third World cities because the innovative way it has addressed issues of urban transportation and sustainability, among others. However, the city has current governance problems that appear to stem from the inability of the municipal authorities to be inclusive enough and to motivate the citizens to be actively involved in urban planning and implementation processes. Concerned citizens, politicians, and NGOs do not consider themselves appropriately included in the planning process and are increasing their pressure to promote pluralistic views of the city and to open a dialogue to discuss its future. This work examines the relationship between leadership and citizen involvement and its impact on urban development in Curitiba, contextualizing it in the larger theoretical debates of planning practices. Preliminary research hints that there is a minimum level of citizen involvement (too little can delegitimize) below which effective planning cannot happen in a democratic context. If current local governance practices persist, Curitiba could become example of what happens when this minimum level is not attained.