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Home , Rio de Janeiro

Urban design and conflicting images of

Rio de Janeiro and

Vicente del Rio

', like dreams, are made ofdesires and places in which to live and do Imageability of places, cities and fears, even ifthe thread oftheir discourse is business. 2 countries is strongly influenced by secret, their perspectives deceitful, and From the conflicting city realities everything conceals something else' tourist and political portraits in the suggested by images in the media, this media. As cognition relies on Halo Calvina, Invisible Cities, Harvest, New York, p 44. essay discusses the important rela­ inferential perception and contrasting tionship between urban design, image categories, marketing strategies ex­ People perceive reality through an ac­ building and world p.erception, by ploit partial truths and conflicting city tive cognitive process using an array of addressing the case of two Brazilian images to direct public perceptions. collected and inferred information, cities, and Curitiba. This article addresses the relationship Quite often, they simply construct this between international perception, im­ reality and its objects by contrasting Conflicting city images and urban de­ age building and urban design in the categories - good and bad, pretty and sign in Brazil case of Brazil and the cities of Rio de ugly, hero and villain - without notic­ Since the seminal work of Kevin Janeiro and Curitiba. Their contrast­ ing that their readiness to apply sim­ Lynch, it has been common know­ ing images as exploited by the inter­ plistic inferential categories beyond ledge that the imageability of an urban national media expose only partial the appropriate limits often leads environment is fundamental for its truths. In fact, these images represent them to mistaken judgments. 1 cognition - basically for the formation complementary development contra­ Imageability of places does not de­ of our images, judgements and ex­ dictions that co-exist in any major city pend solely on their intrinsic qualities. pectations concerning that place.3 today. Recently, images of places have also Furthermore, geographers and tour­ been strongly influenced by the way ism experts have showed that urban Vicente del Rio is Associate Professor at they are portrayed in the media. In the design can playa fundamental role in the Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanis­ USA, huge and indust­ determining a city's and, consequent­ mo, Universidade -Federal do Rio' de 4 Janeiro, and currently is a Visiting Scholar rial cities, such as New York and Los Iy, its country's image abroad. To a at the Center for Urban Design, University Angeles, once referred to as symbols large degree, most urban designers are of Cincinnati. He can be contacted at 3017 of prosperity and modernity - para­ aware of this but, unfortunately, the Clifton Avenue, Cincinatti, OH 45220, digms to be pursued - have become majority of city officials and politi­ USA. examples of chaos and decadence. On cians seem to ignore this fact and its This paper has benefited from comments the other hand, several medium-sized wide repercussions - ranging from its by Ohio's Eminent Scholar in Urban De­ sign David Gosling and from insightful dis­ cities such as Seattle and Saint Louis status as a tourist attraction to the cussions with David Gertner, professor of have topped place rating systems and nation's economic credibility abroad. are promoted by the media as ideal For the last few years Brazil and its major cities have suffered from a poor The perception of Brazilian cities in image and reputation abroad. Those the international media appears to watching US television during the re­ concentrate on two groups of conflict­ cent Mardi Gras were able to see a ing images that concern Rio de short news story on the in Rio Janeiro and Curitiba. The former is de Janeiro. In its three or the best known and second largest city only about a third showed the in Brazil: once praised for its natural schools parade with its beautiful cos­ beauties, today it stands for all the tumes, while the rest explored city malaise related to drug crimes, margi­ violence, street boys and images of nality, poverty and pollution. A city poverty. For this was out­ that potential international tourists rageous, the equivalent of using the are advised to avoid - metaphorically major part of the annual Oscar seen as 'The Beast'. Awards transmission to show images However, an interesting phe­ of street , crack dealers and liv­ nomenon has occurred in which the ing conditions of the poor black and same international media recently Hispanic population in any major elected Curitiba as 'The Beauty'. The North American city. capital of the southern state of Parana, As Gertner has pointed out, the it is highly praised for its urban de­ large majority of Brazilians - certainly velopment projects and is regarded as those who can afford to travel to a 'Mecca for urban planners and en­ Miami or any major US city - share an vironmentalists'. In the words of the image of a pleasant, clean, desirable media, Curitiba is the only Third­ and modern USA. They do not know World city that 'works' in the midst of continued marketing at Universidade Federal do Rio about the very different USA revealed generalized urban chaos - 'it does not de Janeiro and a candidate at by statistics: that more than thirty even look like it is in the Third­ Northwestern University. million people live below the poverty World'.? Unfortunately, the same level, that in a crime is re­ media ensures it is seen as an excep­ lSee R. Nisbett and L. Ross, Human Infer­ ported to the every 12 minutes tion to the rule, resulting more from ence: Strategies and Shortcomings of So­ cial Judgment, Prentice Hall, Englewood (60% at gun point); and that in Port­ the work of an inspired politician - its Cliffs, NJ, 1980. land, Oregon one out of 86 was mayor - and that it does not stand for 2Some examples of popular place ratings stolen in 1990. By comparing Brazil to the country as a whole, which for them are Rand Mac Nally's Place Rate Almanac such a different country as the USA, continues to epitomise The Beast.8 and other rankings such as those pub­ where income distribution is reversed We are not implying that Rio's past lished by Money, Newsweek, Fortune and Savvy. (80% of the population is poor in images were correct and the present 3Kevin Lynch, The Image of the City, MIT Brazil as opposed to 20% in the USA) ones are incorrect. Neither do we imp­ Press, Cambridge, MA, 1960. only the obvious can be exposed: the ly that Curitiba's images are mis­ 4See, for example, Brian Goodey, Percep­ quality of life is higher and there are guided. We make the point that they tion of the Environment: An Introduction to the Literature, Center for Urban and Re­ more opportunities available in the are all wrong per se while, at the same gional Studies, University of Birmingham, USA. time, they express only partial truths, 1971. Nevertheless, the media helps in a complex and contradictory reality 5David Gertner pursues comparative stu­ forming these pre-conceptions and im­ typical of a Third World nation in dies of country images for tourism for his ages of cities and countries, so that which urban design has an important doctorate in marketing at Northwestern University. See his articles '0 Brasil de most Brazilians only perceive one role to play. Outro Ponto de Vista', Jornal do Brasil, 20 'side' of the truth: we can only see the January 1992 and 'Imagens do Brasil com good side of the USA as opposed to Rio de Janeiro: between Beauty and Z', Visao weekly, 22 January 1992. most foreigners who can only see the Beast 6According to EMBRATUR (Brazil's national tourism authority). quoted in 'Few­ bad side of Brazilian cities. From 1987 The city of Rio de Janeiro is Brazil's er are flying down to Rio', Chicago Tri­ to 1990, the total of visitors to Brazil second largest city with a population bune, Travel Session, 26 April 1992. dropped nearly 50%, and visitors to of over five million. The country's 7This is the tone of international media Rio dropped from 66.4% to 51.1 % of recession-hit economy during the last Coverage of Curitiba. see for example Tho­ these figures. 6 There are a number of decade, together with the somewhat mas Kamm, 'Model city: urban problems yield to innovative spirit of a city in Brazil', reasons why this distorted perception complicated return to democracy, The Wall Street Journal, 10 January 1992 is encouraged. Suffice to say that they added to an explosive situation nor­ and Marc Margolis, 'A Third World city that may range from political (competing mally associated with a large metropo­ works', cover story for the World Monitor, trade policies at governmental level) lis (criminality, pollution, poor living Vol 5, No 3, March 1992. aFor the media, mayor is a to economic (tourist industry directing conditions, etc) resulting in a situation city fixer ... (that) tackles with the urban clients to other places) or pure fashion far beyond the control of any normal mess' (see Margolis, ibid). (global cultural trends). planning and urban design process. Figure 1. Special city regulations are being issued to protect natural land­ scapes and view-corridors, such as those around the lakefront in Rio.

With the move of the country's codes and specific upgrading for pub­ capital to Brasilia, Rio lost a major lic areas (Figure I). source of public financing. Sao Paulo In the field of low-income housing, has been more effective in attracting city agencies have been upgrading major industrial development since some of the 450 existing squatter set­ the middle of this century and from tlements, with a total population of the 19605 it also started to be prefer­ over a million people, installing basic red for the headquarters of large cor­ services and complementary public porations and financial institutions. works to improve accessibility and liv­ Thus, local economics in Rio were ing conditions. Nevertheless, a far hard on city management, organiza­ more complex situation exists in the tional capacity and capital invest­ poverty rings around the city, a typical ments. Attempts to rely on the tertiary situation III Third World sector, mainly in services, tourism and metropolises.9 Because of culture, could never produce planning or illegal subdivisions, they either lack and marketing strategies aggressive city approval or never had the basic enough to be successful. This situation services installed by the developer. worsened from the early 1980s with The periphery constitutes major legal the nation's economic crisis and a suc­ and physical problems. In 1987, the cession of mayors and state governors city identified more than 400 of these who did little for the city except for subdivisions and large numbers of populist programmes and party poli­ these have only part of the plots occu­ tics. So, a number of socio-economic pied. They are a legal problem be­ problems, both national and local, cause families, legally and in good generated a low quality of urban life, faith, bought plots in a subdivision typical of the Third World, with the considered illegal by the authorities. consequent 'bad' city images now ex­ They constitute a physical problem ploited by the media. due to the large tracks of empty land Nevertheless, in the last few years resulting from this piecemeal develop­ specific efforts have made to improve ment and the consequent costs and living conditions in Rio, some within difficulties involved in installing in· the realm of urban design. Commun­ frastructure and services. ity, preservation and environmental An important urban design experi­ groups have been active and tradition­ ence in downtown Rio concerns the al values in the planning professions implementation of a historic preserva­ have changed towards broader con­ tion district, the Corredor Cultural cepts including historical preserva­ (cultural corridor). In the late 1970s a 9Here lhe images of the North-American tions and adaptive re-use of old build­ group of city planners attempted to 'burbs' and 'edge cities' are lilerally re­ ings, protection of natural landscapes, get the project approved but only suc­ versed. new land use zoning and building ceeded when the small-business com- Figure 2. The Corredor Cultural establishes a preservation district, fosters revitalization and requires spe­ cific design guidelines in downtown Rio, as exemplified by the new infill building in the photograph.

munity of a traditional shopping dis­ been involved in a political struggle trict joined them, realizing that this between local legislators, the econo­ was the only way to avoid being dis­ mic community and neighbourhood placed by larger businesses. The pro­ associations concerning the approval ject has been successfully im­ of a master plan. The plan aims to plemented not only in the original integrate current sector planning and district, but has now been extended to to establish a planning procedure a much larger area. Revitalization is which would include public participa­ achieved within a broad approach to­ tion, general basic development wards preservation, small scale beauti­ strategies and guidelines, major trans­ fication, special zoning recommenda­ portation and infrastructure spines, as tions and design guidelines (Figure 2). well as a land use and density plan. The city developed an overall plan­ Local urban design specificities should ning system with potential for foster­ then be established by city recom­ ing good urban design. The basic De­ mendations as defined in district plans velopment Plan (Plano Urbanlsrico (the projetos de estrutura(ao urbana). Bdsico) of 1977 established the idea of Strong political and economic in­ district planning, as an attempt to terests at play were not successful in integrate compartmentalized actions blocking the most progressive plan­ of different city agencies. Although ning instruments within the plan such the city never established full proce­ as the transfer development rights and dures for this system, it did start a incentive zoning. tradition of projeto.~ de estrutura(ao Finally, two recent urban design city urbana (urban structuring projects) programmes are worth mentioning. that re-addressed zoning and land use The first is simple and consists of patterns of neighbourhoods, mostly closing certain major streets to vehicu­ with the participation of local com­ lar traffic during Sundays and holi­ munity groups. Unfortunately, given days. It has been very successful over governmental bureaucracy and agency the past few years not only as a way of politics, these local urban design pro­ generating recreational areas in jects were never able to fully address dense inner city neighbourhoods, for the whole spectrum of the public example, but also by stressing some dimension, such as local traffic issues, recreational facilities by closing lanes but concentrated on building en­ to traffic along all the beaches and velopes, land coverage and land use through an existing parkway down­ zoning. town. Many people are attracted to For the last five years, the city has these temporary 'pedestrian' streets Figure 3. Closing one of the seafront lanes to traffic on Sundays and holi­ days has been an effective and popu­ lar design intervention.

to stroll, jog, ride-bicycles, to watch serious criticisms about the quality of specific events, or, simply, to socialize the final design itself. For example, (Figure 3). the new bicycle track is a threat to The other recent urban design effort pedestrians and it substantially de­ started in 1990 under the current city creased available parking. The mayor administration. With the United Na­ dismissed such criticisms and re­ tions Conference on the Environment sponded to political pressures to 'clean (known as the ) hosted the house' for the Earth Summit, thus in Rio in June 1992, significant efforts setting the pace for a new image to be have been devoted to city beautifica­ generated by these projects. Only tion. Evidently, both federal and city time will tell whether they are effec­ governments saw the event as an ideal tive and receive public acceptance in opportunity to rebuild an internation­ the long term. al image and they eagerly prepared Thus, regardless of the international the city for participants of all festivi­ media, Rio has implemented interest­ ties and activities involved. Two major ing urban design projects, particularly city programmes were set with such if considered within the specific and objectives. One aims at providing restrictive developmental context of squares and open areas, especially resources for such a major . those in tourist areas, with new land­ It is also clear that most socio-spatial scaping that includes enclosing them manifestations in the public realm of a to protect against vandalism and vag­ city like Rio expose the developmen­ rancy. The second recent programme tal contradictions of a Third World consists of major beautification of the economy. Furthermore, because city beaches. Originating from a design images generally figure strongly in competition and encompassing 30 most foreigners' perceptions, the im­ miles of beachfrOllt, the project caUs ages of Rio still stand out from the rest for a new streetscape, bicycle tracks, of Brazil. landscaping and homogenizing the de­ sign of food stands. Curi/iba: between myth and modellO This last programme has generated Capital of the southern state of much public controversy against the Parana, Curitiba is the eighth largest mayor. Community rallies questioned city in Brazil with a population of over 'CThis section relies on arguments kindly the social priority of such expenditures 1 200 000. Historical aspects of local provided by Fernanda Sanchez Garcia. as well as the need to upgrade a colonization together with relatively who is currently studying the relationships between planning and image building pro­ waterfront which was not really in modern capitalist patterns in agri­ cesses in Curitiba for her master's degree need of beuerment, as is the case of cultural and regional development atIPPURlUFRJ. Copacabana and beaches, to have produced a unique situation in Parana and in Curitiba in particular.II nished the entire country and is now The resulting productive agricultural unanimously praised as a new 'urban sector gave birth to a more progressive myth'. Wide press coverage and an capitalist regional economic system. efficient marketing structure guaran­ Curitiba is perhaps the only major teed that the urban design solutions Brazilian city where growth and ex­ became new urban symbols of mod­ pansion processes have been tackled ernity, hallowed and divulged both by comprehensive planning in the last nationally and internationally. In fact, two decades. One of the recommenda­ the city managed to realize all urban tions in the original plan, drawn up by projects in creating its own version of consultants from Sao Paulo with a an urban 'utopia'. local team, was for the creation of a Curitiba's physical solutions, parti­ specific city implementation agency. cularly those related to transportation, The Instituto de Pesquisa e Plane­ became 'planning standards' and have jamento Urbano de Curitiba-IPPUC been copied in the most remote towns ( and research insti­ in Brazil without any critical appraisal. tute) was created at the end of the Lerner has been invited to advise 1960s 'as a political means towards many other cities. However, we must flexibility and dynamism, bypassing not be misled by the paradigm and the bureaucracy of city departments. consequent mythology of the Curiti­ Born at the peak of the military reg­ ban projects but aim at a more accu­ ime when there was a strong belief in rate understanding of causes and con­ functional 'technocratic' planning, one sequences. Below we comment upon of the objectives set for IPPUC was to those projects which have had the 'change the looks of the city and to strongest impact. prepare it for the future'. Having sur­ Planned urban growth was defined vived the vagaries of politics, it be­ along major eixos estrutrurais (structu­ came the most important agency in ral axes) that cross the city and define Curitiba as a laboratory for new urban linear vectors for development, dis­ projects, praised for originality and couraging further intensification of the effectiveness but whose success has traditional downtown area. Manda­ yet to be critically appraised. tory patterns along these axes define This success is significantly due to an architectural typology of high­ architect Jaime Lerner, who has been density residential tower blocks, com­ mayor for three terms of office. Dur­ mercial and service uses, together with ing his first term he was appointed by an integrated mass transportation sys­ the state governor, with the approval tem. The articulation between this of the military, at a time when direct road system, land use and public elections were still forbidden. With his transportation, not surprisingly, be­ small and innovative team based at came the major footprint for the new IPPUC, Lerner succeeded in im­ urban design. plementing simple and workable ideas Design succeeded in providing fas­ that depended, to a large extent, on ter and safer vehicle circulation, by his popularity and political games­ means of a three-lane system with manship. Part of this popularity was discrete lanes for buses and cars. This created from projects and program­ system, effective in achieving its goals, mes during his first mandate, many of integrated new bus lines as an alter­ which had been recommended in the nate direct connection between down­ original master plan. Now they cover a town and the neighbourhoods. The wide range including special zoning ligeirinho ('speedy') buses collect pas­ for industrial districts, public trans­ sengers from special reinforced-plastic portation systems, preservation and tubular sheds, whose architectural de­ image building, community participa­ sign, though far from perfect, makes tion, environmental programmes for boarding and exiting faster and more "In Carlos Nelson F. dos Santos, 'Para recycling garbage, among many comfortable with higher efficiency at Cada Forma de Dominagao a Utopia que others. much lower costs than more sophisti­ Merece', Arqu;tetura Rev;sta, Vol 3, No 3, Faculdade de Arquitetura e Urbanismo, During recent years, following im­ cated public mass transit systems (Fi­ Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, plementation of these projects and gure 4). 1985. intense publicity, Curitiba has asto- Developmental patterns along these Figure 4. Curitiba's popular bus sys­ tem uses exclusive express lanes and especially designed stops for faster and more comfortable boarding.

structural axes cut through fragments tional programmes at weekends. With of very different urban fabrics and are pedestrianization, IPPUC also started rigidly standardized by the mandatory a programme for revitalization of the architectural typologies and resulting historic district through protective leg­ morphologies. Curitiba's transforma­ islation, special design guidelines and tion over a few years al10wed the city by encouraging the restoration of to embrace definitively a 'world of several old buildings. Recently it has expressways' as a symbol of the new developed a memorable city streets­ urban form announcing a metropoli­ cape project with a 'red line' delineat­ tan future to come. In the early 1970s, ing footpaths. territorial homogeneity and uniformi­ Next to Rua das Flores, another ty seemed a perfectly valid option as recent urban intervention is the Rua an emerging 'modernity'. Thus, fol­ 24 Horas (twenty four hour street) lowing the functionalist model origin­ which occupies the heart of an inner­ ated in the 1970s, these interventions city block and was acclaimed as an did not consider aspects of the histor­ exciting innovation, the first of its kind ical process and the variety of neigh­ in Brazil (Figure 5). A pedestrianized bourhood patterns through which the street with shops and cafes was co­ axes were cut. Today we know this vered by a cast-iron and glass arcade model is a straitjacket for the growth and stays open day and night. With no process, with a strong influence over intention of discrediting the original the resulting townscape; a side effect idea, we should note, however, that of expressways that is not always clear morphological1y it is nothing but a in the images of Curitiba. simple shopping arcade like those so Curitiba was seen throughout Brazil common in cities like Rio and Sao as an avant garde city in the early Paulo. Nevertheless, this new model is 1970s, when it decided to create already regarded as essential to mod­ pedestrian precincts downtown with ern cities and it wil1 not take long complementary landscaping. The cal­ before it is reproduced in other Brazi­ r;adao ('big sidewalk') of Rua das lian cities. Flores quickly transformed into a live­ Last but not least, having embraced ly meeting place with cafes, shops, the environmentalist discourse, in a cultural activities and colourful flower new and skil1ful marketing strategy by stal1s. Shoppers could leave their chil­ Lerner, Curitiba now also serves as a dren in the care of city recreation model for First World cities. It has officials in a converted old street recently received the title of 'environ­ that would also offer special educa- mental capital of Brazil' owing to its Figure 5. Shops, cafes and entertain­ ment in an inner city thaI is encased in a glass arcade and stays open round the clock.

50m2 of green space per capita and for requirements that end up being its programmes for collection and re­ accepted by the population, trans­ cycling of urban waste. There is spe­ forming the smallest experience into cial emphasis in the [ave/as (squatter an irrcsitible adventure towards uto­ settlements) where squatters get bags pia. In the early 1970s the piHadigm of food or bus vouchers in exchange adopted by the city was for a compre­ for their garbage. Admired by visiting hensive, globalizing, and creative way journalists, cited as an example by of achieving urbanism. Modernity was UNESCO and visited by officials of thell associated with an efficient and other metropolises, Curitiba was a comfortable daily life. From the early highlight of thc Inter­ 1980s a strong cultural influence could national Conference on the Environ­ be perceived which stressed a more ment which was held in Rio de Janeiro humane urban landscape, particularly in 1992. in historic districts. The environment Urban design interventions in Curi­ is still. nonetheless, associated with tiba must be understood as com­ the rational/functionalist trend which munication and action at the symbolic informed the original projects. level: cach generating a new system of There is no doubt that Curitiba knew how to take advantage of each one hand, we learn that urban design project it managed to realize, both can effectively be used for internation­ materially and symbolically. While the al imageability. This is of particular city knew how to pursue its image, importance for countries like Brazil, promulgating the necessity for copying in which the Curitiban experience is its urban solutions, it also learned how an outstanding model. Not simply by to rejuvenate this image, by adopting developing model projects, but by new strategies. 'With the right adopting a model strategy for advertis­ touches, any city can be a Curitiba' ing and mythifying processes and re­ states Mayor Lerner in his evolution­ sults, with the right marketing of the ary perspective. 12 Recognizing the right images - the 'urban utopia'. merit in many of these projects and Curitiba makes sure that its urban the strength of their image should not programmes and projects do their job keep us from a critical appraisal of the in moulding foreigners' cognition and imposed perception - an understand­ in directing them to a positive evalua­ ing of the real city. So far, the relative­ tion. Meanwhile, Rio still is not able ly small scale of Curitiba, its specific to redirect the prevailing bad images socio-historical patterns and efficient imposed by the world media. political propaganda have helped the On the other hand, Curitiba's ex­ efforts of Mayor Lerner and the quali­ perience also teaches us the import­ ty of some of the projects to disguise ance and the feasibility of simple - not images more clearly associated with simplistic - urban design. Recently, real socio-economic contradictions Mayor Lerner of Curitiba stated that such as those so evident in Rio. 'the city of the future will not be a As observed by late Carlos Nelson scene from Flash Gordon . .. it prob­ dos Santos, one of Brazil's most im­ ably will look a lot like cities of today. portant urbanists, 'miracles' in the We have to get grandiose solutions out Curitiban version and the mystical of our heads'. 14 He is right in that the treatment bestowed on all urban pro­ time of grand schemes seems definite­ jects generated there seem to demerit, ly to be over. There is insufficient dequalify and even to erase all the money for one thing and full democra­ historical richness of the remaining cy should guarantee effective and planning and urban design in Brazil. 13 widespread public expenditure. Curi­ In his revealing analysis of urban 'uto­ tiba is 'Small is beautiful' revisited, pias' in Brazil, Santos concluded that where good political sense and the few people realize the relationships maximization of the spiral effect of between the development process in small actions are fundamental. Curitiba and its historico-spatial This leads us towards the second framework. In the eyes of the leading lesson to be learned. We have strong bourgeoisie, Curitiba embodies a per­ indications that in all world metropol­ fect counterpoint to our 'backward­ ises - Rio, Sao Paulo, , ness' because it allows for the creation New York or - the most of a 'stage set', a model for a possible probable future scenarios are already and desirable future for the nation present and they certainly do not look when it 'whitens and becomes more like a naive Flash Gordon scenario, civilized', in the ironic words of San­ but more like the dystopias suggested tos. in Bladerunner and Boys 'N the Hood. Planning and urban design in such Which image is more real? contexts may have to operate in­ Clearly, there is a strong relationship creasingly by aiming at grand objec­ between urban design, image building tives, since we will be dealing with the and world perception, which I have complex transformation of society as tried to illustrate in the case of Brazil, we know it today. Within this major with the cities of Curitiba and Rio de urban trend, we will have to deal with Janeiro playing the leading roles of strongly contrasting developmental The Beauty and the Beast. There are factors. 12Margolis, op cit, Ref 7. two major lessons to be learned from The second lesson is the inevitable 13dos Santos, op cit, Ref 11. the previous discussion. realization that the media is mostly 14Kamm, op cit, Ref 7. The first lesson is twofold. On the responsible for world perceptions and preconceives us towards partial truths. trate on divulging strong and good This is not, as we understand it, neces· images of how we want our country sadly good or bad. However, it is and cities to be recognized. However. often misleading and can generate a then we would be joining in the same strong prejudice against a country or a simplistic game played by the media of city. Do Curitiba and Rio de Janeiro contrasting cognitive categories and deserve the metaphors 'The Beauty' we would still only choose the Beauty and 'The Beast'? Which of them to display, again divulging only parts should be used as a fair representation of the truth. of Brazil? The media shows two very Rather than undertaking a purely different cities which are worlds apart, commercial tourist strategy, we should this is true as far as their different take a more truthful and culturally sizes, specificities of their evolutionary correct marketing standpoint in expos­ and political determinants are con­ ing the existing contradictions in Bra­ cerned. zil as a Third World nation and allow The importance of place marketing the world and potential tourists to and strong international competition decide, totally aware of existing condi­ lead some to say that Brazil should be tions. Foreign imageability of Brazil more aggressive and should fight should create an understanding that against the current prevailing concep­ The Beauty and The Beast metaphors tion and images dramatized and de­ are complementary developmental contextualized by the media. Diffe­ factors of co-existing realities in any rent strategies could be adopted. major capitalist city, realities that we Some say we should be aggressive and all share and are partly responsible divulge comparative data on criminal­ for. As Italo Calvino has written, ity between major cities in Brazil and we must accept that it is the inter­ the USA. Others say that, not unlike weaving thread of desires and fears the successful strategy of Curitiba, which makes dreams and cities come 'counter-marketing' should concen- true.