Jaime Lerner

Today, I've found myself a new hero. Jaime Lerner - architect, urban planner, three times mayor of Curitiba, and governor of Paraná state, Brazil.

As Mayor, he came up with a number of creative solutions to Curitiba's problems, saving the city millions of dollars. He cleaned up the slums by offering bags of groceries in exchange for bags of trash. He cleaned up the nearby bay by offering fishermen payment for every pound of garbage they collected, thus giving them a source of income even in the non-fishing season. He hired 'municipal sheep' to keep the grass in the parks trimmed, instead of buying expensive mowing machines. And the wool from the sheep was used to fund children's programs.

His biggest achievement in Curitiba was probably the BRT or Bus Rapid Transit system. Using a hierarchy of 6 bus sizes that feed one another, (the largest Bi-articulated buses carry nearly 300 people), he achieved what a complete subway system would have done, at almost one hundredth the cost. The city also built attractive transit tubes, with handicapped access and ticket purchasing facilities to improve the speed of transit.

While for most cities the pace of change is measured in years, for Jaime Lerner it is measured in hours. He is known for transforming a gridlocked commercial artery in Curitiba into a spacious pedestrian mall over one long weekend! Apart from his time as mayor and governor, he has used his creativity and expertise to improve cities worldwide, and is a champion for the cause of sustainability.

So that puts him firmly on top of my list of heroes. He says that any city in the world can be transformed in 3 years. I wish we could invite him to Chennai. Don't miss his speech on TED talks, with the little sustainability song at the end :) (it might be worth having the English subtitles on as well).