Bureaucracy is like a fungus that contaminates everything.

Curitiba is not a paradise. We have all the problems that most Latin American cities have. We have slums. We have the same difficulties, but the big difference is the respect given by people due to the quality of the services which are provided.

A city is like a family portrait - you don't tear it up if you don't like your uncle's nose.

The secret to the city is integration. Every area of the city should combine work, leisure and culture. Separate these functions and parts of the city die.

I always run into these Ph.D.s. They write and write and write about sustainable development. Then these guys ask me, 'But, how do you do it?' They are scared to death to do anything.

Every city in the world can be improved in less than three years.

There is little in the architecture of a city that is more beautifully designed than a tree.