In “Curitiba” by Bill McKibben,
he describes the city of Curitiba, Brazil, which is remarkable for its “livability”
and good infrastructure due to the great efforts of the city’s government.
Curitiba does not turn away from its homeless people nor does it hide their
existence; the city has a program where people receive food for collecting
garbage. The mayor created a pedestrian mall to encourage business and avoid
razing a historic central street, thus embodying the “cardinal dictate” of
being economical and “recycling” buildings in Curitiba. Housing in the city is
built by and assigned to families with lower icomes, helping to bring up
everyone’s living conditions.n
The basis of the city planning
principles in Curitiba is respect for all the city’s citizens, and an embracing
of the responsibility that they all have to lift each other up to equal
qualities of life. Instead of choosing the easy route of focusing on already
developed areas to industrialize and neglecting the more problematic areas, the
government of Curitiba elected a more egalitarian structure, giving support
through many programs and preserving the culture of the city. The example of
Curitiba shows us that communities that value each member as an integral part
of the whole are the ones that flourish the most. Thus, this story shows how
profoundly Curitibans “respect and ultimately value experiences and
perspectives different from their own,” just like we want our residents to do
as a Community Commitment goal. Part of what makes our first-year communities
strong is the mutual commitment to embrace the unique experience of living in a
dorm, and to be open to the different perspectives and backgrounds of other
residents. Therefore, we encourage our freshmen to “understand the expectations
that come with membership in our community, demanding respect, courtesy and
civility in one’s dealings with others” and giving the same respect, courtesy
and civility in return.
See you all in less than a day!! :)
Viv
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