Recife Brazil
Zoning plan? ZDUBE!
Recife is potentially an ideal cycling city: compact and flat. However the amount of public space is small, with the result that different users crowd each other out. The car dominates, leading to permanent congestion and poor air quality. This pressure threatens to spread to the banks of the Capibaribe, Beberibe and Tejipio, the three rivers that converge here.
Andries Geerse has, at the invitation of Mayor Geraldo Julio de Mello Filho, visited the city several times to provide his advice. Brazil's Zoning Plan (Plano Diretor) plays a key role in that. The plan offers the possibility to introduce new land use categories, alongside traditional categories such as Residential or Central Business District zones. The core of Andries' advice is to designate 15% of the urban area as Zona de Desenvolvimento Urbano Baixo Emissao (ZDUBE), the first low-carbon zone in the world. Here, pedestrians, cyclists and public transport take priority in the public space and developers earn a bonus if they take action in the field of sustainable water, energy and recycling.
Details
- Date
- 2014-2015
- Product
- Advice for a sustainable zoning plan
- Clients
- Prefeitura do Recife & UN-Habitat
- Project website
- Urban-Leds Recife
- Contact
- Andries Geerse
andriesgeerse@welovethecity.eu - In cooperation with
- ICLEI & ISOCARP
Mercatorpark Amsterdam
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»ZDUBE special zoning

The Brazilian planning system offers the possibility to establish Zonas Especiais (special zones).
view detailsDownload our strategic advice

We worked out the advice 'The Way to Go For Recife' in concrete guidelines for a low-carbon zone in the heart of this major city. Download the advice here.
view detailsA low-carbon street profile
Brazilian cities are compact and have little open space. So you have to set priorities.
view detailsZDUBE map
The target low-carbon zone (ZDUBE; in orange) covers 15% of the urban area.
view detailsWorkshop results
During his first field mission (May 3-11, 2014), Andries Geerse spoke with around 40 employees from the municipality, the state and NGOs.
view detailsDensification, safety and incentives
ZDUBE focuses on densification around safe and green corridors with high-quality public transport.
view detailsThe way to go for Recife Brazil
Spatial strategy for sustainable development
view detailsRecife goes for Low Carbon
Andries Geerse delivers first field mission report
view detailsSustainable urban growth in Recife - Brazil
WeLoveTheCity participates in Urban-LEDS project
view details