Center of Curitiba is undergoing revitalization and gastronomy gains space

You may have already noticed: the center of Curitiba is under construction. Streets and areas in the central zone are little by little being revitalized, gaining wider sidewalks, special lighting, new paving and even special treatment on the facades of some buildings. The action is part of the Rosto da Cidade and Caminhar Melhor projects, run by the city of Curitiba. The objective of the revitalization is to bring Curitiba residents to the center of Curitiba and breathe new life into the region, which is suffering the blow of post-covid social/economic changes.

Currently, the surroundings of the Municipal Market and Alameda Prudente de Moraes are undergoing renovation. The works involve widening the sidewalks – enabling the use of tables in the outdoor area – and changing the pavement to ensure full accessibility, with smooth concrete strips and granite slates on the edges. Specific lighting posts for pedestrians are also being installed in the spaces, in addition to road lamps and new urban furniture.

Soon, it will be Saldanha Marinho that will have similar improvements. The executive project is ready and will soon open for the bidding phase. The expectation, according to Ippuc’s project director, architect Célia Bin, is that the first covering of the work will begin by the beginning of 2024. The retaliation of Saldanha Marinho will be divided into two stages. The first of them will go from Curitiba Cathedral to Rua Fernando Moreira. The second phase will go up to Praça da Espanha.

Gastronomy is a bet to attract more people to the center of Curitiba

Providing conditions for local commerce to be more attractive and bring people to the city center is one of Curitiba’s city council’s efforts to reduce the center’s well-known problems, such as insecurity and drug trafficking. “The more people on the street, the safer we are. This prevents unwanted uses from happening”, commented Célia during the panel A Rua é Nossa, held at Fórum Tutano, which took place on October 21st and 22nd at MON.

And in this, gastronomy plays a fundamental role. After all, where there is good food, there are always people. Traditional doors from the city center – such as Armazém California, Maneko’s Bar and Nonna Giovana -, which resist time and the challenges of the center of Curitiba, are some proof of this.

“I believe that urban centers are made to be occupied. This is the great solution for the center. And I see this being done through gastronomy, as traditional commerce is increasingly losing space to other forms of shopping . Think about Calçadão da 15, which today has several stores closed, with all of Curitiba’s breweries there? But, of course, this depends on approvals from the city hall and other actions”, argued businessman and cultural producer Fred Ferreira, owner, during the panel. from the restaurant A Caiçara and creator of the Curitiba Jazz Festival.

Among these other actions, there are discussions that need to be carried out in parallel with urban revitalization. Among them, public policies for homeless people, surveillance actions, improvements in transport systems, zoning and inspection rules – mainly in relation to sound. Above all, society needs to be involved for this rescue of the center to be truly effective.

“We see a movement in the world’s big cities to recover and revitalize their central regions. This debate needs to be held in Curitiba too. But it’s not just the government that has to do this. We, as a society, including the private sector, we need to be involved”, said journalist Eduardo Aguiar, who has been running the @ocentrodecuritiba profile for two years and also participated in the panel at Fórum Tutano.