I always try to say, 'If you want to help the environment, try to do just two things. One, use less of your car. Second, separate your garbage.'

A lot of people assume that the expensive ideas are the most effective ones, but that is simply not true.

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

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.

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.

Cities are not problems. They are solutions.

The lack of resources is no longer an excuse not to act. The idea that action should only be taken after all the answers and the resources have been found is a sure recipe for paralysis. The planning of a city is a process that allows for corrections; it is supremely arrogant to believe that planning can be done only after every possible variable has been controlled.