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Jamie Lerner

Urban Planner

Jamie Lerner is the former mayor of Curitiba, the capital city of Brazilian state Paraná. He held the post for three terms through the seventies, eighties and early nineties, before being elected governor of Paraná state in 1994, and re-elected in 1998.

An urban planner and architect, Lerner graduated from the School of Architecture of the Federal University of Paraná in 1964, and prioritised transport, planning and social advancement in his mayoral and governmental positions. As mayor of Curitiba, he consolidated the urban transformation and implemented the Integrated Mass Transport System, acknowledged worldwide for its efficiency, quality and low cost. In the three terms he served, Lerner intensified a programme of social advancements that resulted with Curitiba ranking on a series of quality of life surveys.

In addition to being a United Nations consultant for urban issues, in 2003, he established Jamie Lerner Associated Architects. The firm has developed plans and projects for the Brazilian cities of Sao Paolo, Rio, Brasilia and Florianopolis, as well as the Mexican city of Durango and Luanda in Angola.