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I lived in Brasília three years in my later teens in the early '80s. It was ambitious but fell short. The superblocks were cold and impersonal. There were ma

I lived in Brasília three years in my later teens in the early '80s. It was ambitious but fell short. The superblocks were cold and impersonal. There were many strange ideas such as ... all the hotels should be stuffed into two hotel sectors close to the city center. In the almost 40 years since I left I've heard there's more of a local culture and perhaps things have improved. Back then everyone in Brasília was still from elsewhere.

amrocha 4y ago
I grew up there in the early 2000s and it was a great city. Lots of kids to play with from your own block, access to local shops within walking distance, safe enough that kids walk around and play by themselves. One of the things I loved the most was going to friends houses and learning what their block was like. There's parts that suck, over reliance on cars, no public transit, lots of things are just a little bit too far to walk to. But overall, Brasília had more easily accessible green space dedicated to people than most cities in the world imo.
- rglullis 4y ago
  > Lots of kids to play with from your own block (...) safe enough I bet that your part of town was the one that kept the poor plebs away. > over reliance on cars, no public transit, lots of things are just a little bit too far to walk to. That by itself already should be an immediate disqualification to consider a city "nice". > Brasília had more easily accessible green space dedicated to people than most cities in the world imo I guess if you stick only the planned area and exclude the satellite cities, that could be true. Even then, I'd really like to see some data on that.
  - amrocha 4y ago
    Yeah of course I'm excluding the satellite cities, they weren't planned and this is a thread about the planned city. Brazil has a wealth inequality problem, designing a city well was never going to solve that. It's not a perfect city, but it's way better than the vast majority of north American cities, which isn't reflected in all the negative comments here.
- rbanffy 4y ago
  > over reliance on cars, no public transit, lots of things are just a little bit too far to walk to The city was designed in the 50's. We need to consider the decisions in that context. OTOH, even Disney's original EPCOT concept had mass transit baked in, and it was imagined in the US, land of the automobile.

amrocha 4y ago

I grew up there in the early 2000s and it was a great city. Lots of kids to play with from your own block, access to local shops within walking distance, safe enough that kids walk around and play by themselves. One of the things I loved the most was going to friends houses and learning what their block was like. There's parts that suck, over reliance on cars, no public transit, lots of things are just a little bit too far to walk to. But overall, Brasília had more easily accessible green space dedicated to people than most cities in the world imo.

rglullis 4y ago
> Lots of kids to play with from your own block (...) safe enough I bet that your part of town was the one that kept the poor plebs away. > over reliance on cars, no public transit, lots of things are just a little bit too far to walk to. That by itself already should be an immediate disqualification to consider a city "nice". > Brasília had more easily accessible green space dedicated to people than most cities in the world imo I guess if you stick only the planned area and exclude the satellite cities, that could be true. Even then, I'd really like to see some data on that.
- amrocha 4y ago
  Yeah of course I'm excluding the satellite cities, they weren't planned and this is a thread about the planned city. Brazil has a wealth inequality problem, designing a city well was never going to solve that. It's not a perfect city, but it's way better than the vast majority of north American cities, which isn't reflected in all the negative comments here.
rbanffy 4y ago
> over reliance on cars, no public transit, lots of things are just a little bit too far to walk to The city was designed in the 50's. We need to consider the decisions in that context. OTOH, even Disney's original EPCOT concept had mass transit baked in, and it was imagined in the US, land of the automobile.