Bernard Lietaer - The future of money

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. 路 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