If this street was mine...

Sobratema joins efforts with Sinaenco, WRI and Frente Nacional de Prefeitos (National Front of Mayors) to bring technical knowledge and constructive innovation to Brazilian municipalities, in a way to have more friendly and sustainable cities. The top product of this initiative is the Projeto Ruas Completas (Complete Street Project), of low-carbon mobility

In an event with 512 mayors of cities from several regions of the country and 9458 participants including town planners, architects and representatives of city public power responsible by the development of urban structure, among others, Sobratema – Associação Brasileira de Tecnologia para a Construção e Mineração (Brazilian Association of Technology for Construction and Mining) signed a mutual cooperation agreement with Sinaenco, Frente Nacional de Prefeitos (FNP) and WRI Cidades Sustentáveis (WRI Sustainable Cities) to support the municipalities in the diffusion and consolidation of technical knowledge and constructive innovation. The target is to contribute through this process to transform our cities in more human, friendly, comfortable and sustainable places.

The document was signed in a formal sitting carried out during the IV Encontro dos Municípios com o Desenvolvimento Sustentável (EMDS – Meeting of the Municipalities with the Sustainable Development), carried out at Brasília in April 25 to 28 by the Frente Nacional de Prefeitos. “The EMDS is a biannual forum that gathers mayors in the exercise of their mandates to interchange experiences and technologies and to share good practices turned to improve citizens’ quality of life. Thus, it is the ideal place for formalizing and spreading the agreement that commits its signatories in developing shared initiatives that contribute for the development of urban infrastructure in the municipalities”, explained Afonso Mamede, president of Sobratema.

“The signature of this agreement is a fact of high importance due to the technical quality and knowledge gathered by the three organizations and especially due to the innovative, revolutionary proposals related to urban mobility”, said the president of FNP and former mayor of Belo Horizonte, Marcio Lacerda.

At the same time that the agreement was signed, Sobratema and its partners presented—during the EMDS—the Projeto Ruas Completas - Rede Nacional para a Mobilidade de Baixo Carbono (Complete Street Project). This is a “prototype” of a street that gathers ideal conditions, designed to ensure safe access to all users—pedestrians, cyclists, users of public transport and drivers. It is based on elements of urban design, furniture and infrastructure to improve accessibility and safety conditions. In the street section with 130 sq.mt., with a design based on concepts of universal accessibility, it is possible to find the state-of-the-art in lane paving, public lighting, vertical and horizontal signaling, storm water drainage, comfortable sidewalks (that ensure better mobility and accessibility), bicycle paths, exclusive sections of roads for public transport, tactile floors for handicapped, etc.

According to Mamede, in this urban cutting, mayors of the entire country had a sample of what is offered to the market by contractors and suppliers to allow a harmonic interaction between pedestrians, cyclists, buses and cars.

Based on the agreement signed during the IV EMDS, Sobratema and its partners will bring the Projeto Ruas Completas to ten cities, spreading the good practices turned to low-carbon urban mobility. These cities are Campinas (SP); Fortaleza (CE); Joinville (SC); Juiz de Fora (MG); Niterói (RJ); Porto Alegre (RS); João Pessoa (PB); Salvador (BA); São Paulo (SP); Recife (PE) and the Federal District.