Curitiba is not just a city I once called home—it’s a place that shaped me in ways I am still discovering. Its streets, lined with jacaranda trees, hum with a quiet efficiency that is rare in large cities. Here, urban planning feels like an art form, a carefully composed symphony of sustainability and modernity. And yet, beneath its well-structured design, Curitiba breathes with warmth, with culture, with an ever-evolving sense of identity. This is a city that moves forward without losing sight of its roots, embracing progress while still preserving its soul.

Beyond its famed architecture and pioneering public transportation system, Curitiba carries an atmosphere of creativity and community. It is a city where art isn’t confined to galleries, but spills onto the streets, where musicians, poets, and performers turn ordinary corners into stages. There’s an intellectual curiosity here, a love for storytelling, for history, for the small but meaningful moments that make life beautiful. The city’s green parks—once flood zones turned into public spaces—aren’t just places of leisure, but symbols of resilience, of a city that chooses to grow wisely rather than recklessly.

For me, Curitiba holds an even deeper significance—my son, Leo, was born here. That alone ties my heart to this city in an unbreakable way. When I think of Curitiba, I think of the quiet mornings walking through Praça do Japão, the laughter of families in Parque Barigui, the scent of freshly brewed café passado drifting from neighborhood bakeries.

Curitiba is often praised for its efficiency, its design, its forward-thinking policies. But what I cherish most about it is something less tangible—the way it makes you feel part of something greater. It is a city that doesn’t just exist; it lives, it evolves, it welcomes. And even from afar, a piece of me will always belong to its tree-lined avenues and rain-washed streets.

Image: Personal Archive, 2017

Originally  Published on: Feb 2, 202