All Change in Curitiba!

Like many other major world cities, Curitiba in southern Brazil has had to deal with issues such as pollution, poverty, and limited public funding. However, the architect and three-times mayor of the city, Jaime Lerner, has introduced some     1     solutions.

As part of his ‘Master Plan’, Lerner hoped to make the city more environmentally friendly. He initiated a recycling scheme. In return for delivering recyclable rubbish to specified     2     points, residents receive a bag of vegetables or bus tickets. As a result, Curitiba now has one of the highest recycling rates in the world. Lerner also ordered the     3     of 26 urban parks. As well as preventing pollution, these control flooding.

Lerner did not win over all the city’s residents immediately, however. When his plans to     4     part of the centre were passed, local businesses were up in arms, fearing a reduction in profits. Realising he needed to act quickly, Lerner had the     5     of six blocks completed within three days. When a group of motorists attempted to drive through the new pedestrian area, Lerner arranged for local primary schools to hold a painting workshop on the streets. The drivers were forced to turn back. Luckily for Lerner, this rebellion was     6    . The increase in profit rapidly persuaded shop owners to change their minds.

Lerner’s determination helped     7     the Curitiba of today. The average income per capita has risen from a level that was below the Brazilian average in the 1970s to 66% above the average, and surveys indicate high levels of resident satisfaction.

So, is it all just one big success story? In some respects, Curitiba may have been too successful for its own    8    . People and businesses have come to the city, which now has more than 1.8 million residents. This has put the city under enormous stress. Forty years ago, buses transported 54,000 passengers a day. Now the number is 2.3 million. According to some experts, the transport system has reached its     9     efficiency capacity. Following a rise in complaints about the noisy and     10     buses, the service is in decline.

The health food chain Tossed has just opened the UK’s firstcashless cafe. It’s another step towards the death of cash.

This is nothing     1    . Money is tech. The casting of coins made shells, whales’ teeth and other such primitive forms of money redundant (多余的). The printing press did the same for precious metals: we started using paper     2     instead. Electronic banking put paid to the cheque. Contactless payment is now doing the same to cash, which is becoming less and less convenient. In the marketplace convenience usually wins.

In a world without cash, every payment you make will be     3    . Do you want governments (which are not always benevolent), banks or payment processors to have potential access to that information? The power this _    4     them is enormous and the potential scope for Orwellian levels of surveillance is terrifying.

Cash, on the other hand,     5     its users. It enables them to buy and sell, and     6     their wealth, without being dependent on anyone else. They can stay outside the financial system, if so desired.

Cash has its uses for small transactions- a chocolate bar, a newspaper, a pint of milk -which, in the UK, are still     7     to process by other means. It will always be the fastest and most direct form of payment there is. I like to     8     waiters, for example, in cash, knowing they will receive that money, without it being siphoned (转移) off by some     9     employer,knowing they will receive the money. I also like to shop in markets, where I can buy directly from the producer, without middle men     10     off their percentages.

Cash means total financial inclusion, a luxury the better-off take for granted. Without financial inclusion - and there will always be some who, for whatever reason, won’t have it - you are trapped in poverty. So beware the war on cash.