Passage 90 Brazilian Though Brazil is one of the richest countries in the world, much of it has not yet been developed. It was mainly for this reason that the Brazilian government decided to have a new city built 600 miles north-west of Rio de Janeiro. Designed by the great architect Lucio Costa, the new city, Brasilia, replaced Rio de Janeiro as the capital of Brazif in 1960. Brasilia has been carefully planned for modern living. Its wide roads, which can take fourteen lanes of traffic, have been kept away from living areas. Children do not have to cross busy streets to go to school. Housewives can visit-shopping centres on foot, for in these specially designed living areas, cars are unnecessary.