Figure 5.32: The planned urban landscape of Brasília. As you can see from this aerial view, Brasília is a city of straight roadways, high-rise residential superquadra, and green spaces in between. Brasília is a city that was literally built from scratch in an area of cleared jungle in Brazil’s tropical scrubland interior. This allowed the planners to follow a modern urban design blueprint down to the last detail. Residents of Brasília complain that its larger-than-life public spaces, high-speed vehicle traffic, and impersonal housing blocks inhibit socialization and make Brasília a difficult place to live.
(Cassio Vasconcellos/SambaPhoto/Getty Images.)