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Meet The Planned Neighborhood In Palhoça That Was Born To Be A Model Of Urbanism, Where Cars Are Secondary, But Faces Challenges Of Social Exclusion And Mobility.
At the end of the 1990s, a family farm in Palhoça, Santa Catarina, gave way to an ambitious vision: to build a city from scratch. The Creative City Pedra Branca was born, a place designed for architecture to dictate living together and encourage residents not to use cars. The project became a reference, but its ideal of “perfect city” collides with the complex realities of the economy, human behavior, and the regional context.
From Family Farm To Urban Laboratory
The journey of Pedra Branca City began on a 250-hectare farm owned by the Gomes family, located in the municipality of Palhoça, which is part of the Great Florianópolis. The land, at the time a completely virgin area, was considered the ideal starting point for a differentiated mixed-use project. The name of the venture was inspired by a local geographical icon: Morro da Pedra Branca.
The strategic decision that ensured initial success was a partnership with the University of Southern Santa Catarina (Unisul). The establishment of a campus in the heart of the property became the “transformative anchor,” ensuring a constant flow of students, teachers, and staff. This movement gave the project its first name: University City Pedra Branca.
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The vision, however, evolved. In 2005, inspired by the book “Place Making” and the Congress for New Urbanism, the creators shifted their focus. The goal became to create a compact, mixed-use, pedestrian-centered community. In 2010, the project was relaunched as “Sustainable City Pedra Branca,” with a strong emphasis on environmental certifications, earning it international awards.
Later, to ensure economic vitality and avoid becoming a “dormitory city,” the focus shifted to attracting technology companies, and the name was changed to “Creative City Pedra Branca.” In 2023, consolidating the learning, the group rebranded itself as “Hurbana,” with the ambition of exporting the model to other cities in Santa Catarina.
The Principles Of New Urbanism Used In Santa Catarina In Practice
The transformation of Pedra Branca was guided by philosophies that challenge the car-centered urban model. New Urbanism, which advocates a return to a more human scale, and Placemaking, focused on creating a deep sense of community, are the project’s pillars. The goal was to build a “city for people.”
To achieve this, a team of world-renowned consultants was gathered, including the firm DPZ Latin America, Brazilian architect Jaime Lerner, and the Danish consultancy Gehl Architects. The master plan was co-created collaboratively through an intensive workshop called “Charrette,” which brought together architecture firms from Santa Catarina and local specialists.
These principles materialized into concrete elements. The main street, Passeio Pedra Branca, was conceived as Brazil’s first “shared street,” where the design calms traffic with narrow lanes and leveling between sidewalk and street, signaling that pedestrians have the preference.
The mixed-use concept was applied in most of the buildings, which combine residences on the upper floors with shops and services on the ground floor, creating “active façades” that ensure vibrant and safe streets. Additionally, the project was guided by a “Decalogue” of ten principles, including guidelines such as “living, working, studying, and having fun in the same place” and “priority to pedestrians.”
The Experience Of Living In The Creative City In Santa Catarina
The neighborhood’s narrative describes an idyllic routine: taking children to school on foot, working in local offices, and enjoying cultural events in the square. The strong sense of community is the result of substantial investment in infrastructure, such as parks, sports courts, and a central lake, in addition to an active cultural agenda with over 1,000 events held in a decade at Passeio Pedra Branca.
The concentration of educational institutions, from Unisul to high-end schools, creates a dynamic environment. However, this quality of life comes at a high cost. Property prices are a clear indicator of its success as a luxury product and the main barrier to social diversity. Renting a 2-bedroom apartment, for example, can cost from R$ 1,990 to over R$ 5,000 per month. For purchase, a 2-bedroom apartment costs over R$ 700,000, while a house can exceed R$ 2.8 million. These prices filter the population that can live in the neighborhood, shaping its social character.
Criticisms And Challenges Of The Model
Despite its aesthetic success, Pedra Branca in Santa Catarina faces criticisms that question its model. The issue of social exclusion is the most compelling. Although the project preaches “diversity of residents,” the high cost of housing has resulted in a homogeneous socioeconomic profile of upper-middle and high class. The neighborhood has effectively become an enclave that promotes “self-segregation” in relation to the rest of the municipality of Palhoça.
The promise of a life with fewer cars has also been broken. Academic studies concluded that the neighborhood “does not contribute to the solution of urban mobility problems.” The dependence on automobiles remains high, caused by poor integration with regional public transport and the fact that many who work in the neighborhood cannot afford to live there, being forced to make long daily commutes.
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