Curitiba and Bogota have both revitalized themselves with the help of Urban Planning. They both use transit to their advantage.  They also had the idea to put people before cars.  Their ideas on urban planning and everything is great. The people seem a lot happier and the country is doing great. They were both doing badly before and now they are doing great. There are still some bad parts of town, but they are working at making them safer. This would totally revitalize the country.

                They have three major things in common that I found. The first thing I noticed was that they both use articulated buses. These buses are used everywhere pretty much, but they have them working a lot faster. They are very good at moving a lot of people very fast. This cuts down on wait time and allows people to get out the city fast.

                The second thing I noticed was that they both put people before cars. They identified problem areas and tried to fix them. They tried to fix them with people not with more roads and cars. This allowed the urban planner to add greener infrastructure. Also with fewer cars, buses have more opportunity to get around faster.

                The third thing I noticed was that they both made the country better, safer, and more prosperous. They have lambs eating grass to cut down on emissions. They shut down a road every Sunday to allow people to walk or bike it. They have people living in slums collecting garbage and getting paid in fruits and vegetables. They are building new community and having the slums move there and work there.  They are essentially eliminating slums and the high crime areas. The two urban planners were very smart at what they did and how they did it.

                One thing that was very different in the two was who the urban planner was and how they got their opportunity.  The Curitiba urban planner was an urban planner. He did not have any political power other than knowing a few people. He just had good ideas and brought them to the table. They town liked them and proceed with them. The mayor of Bogota was the urban planner. He had the power to change and it did not matter if people agreed with it or not. In the end, he made it great though.

                Another thing that was different is that Bogota named their bus system. They did not want people feeling like they were getting on a bus. They wanted it to be a better name and feel better (Transmillino). Curitiba just left it as their transit name. They did not care what the name was. They knew it would still work for the people.