Mostly the distances combined with automobile traffic I think.
The biggest problem area of Brasília in my opinion is incidentally where the landmarks are concentrated, on the "Esplanada" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monumental_Axis). It's an extremely wide open area with little tree cover, and bounded by wide roads encouraging aggressive driving and persistent exhaust fumes. Although the landmarks themselves are interesting, it's just not that much fun to walk between them. If you contrast to The Malls of Washington DC or London, the difference is that Brasília is clearly auto-oriented. You can drive from point A to point B in Brasília perhaps faster than any city in the world, but there is a severe tradeoff in how pleasant it is to stroll around the center. If you need to traverse the epicenter where there are 3 levels of vehicle traffic with a parking lot for the shopping center overlaying the central bus station, overlaying an underground tunnel that keeps the central flow moving, there's just no way to avoid feeling like a very tiny insect in a vast pneumatic machine ejecting vehicular traffic to every possible known destination.
That said, once you get out of the very center into the residential superblocks, I find it to be quite picturesque and pleasant to walk around. Each superblock has only a single entrance and has speed bumps throughout, so traffic is well controller. The apartment buildings are mostly raised so the ground floor is open and you can walk underneath. This makes it so you can walk on almost every square inch of ground in the residential areas. It certainly lacks a certain urban vibrancy that many Brazilians and Latinos love about their South American cities, but it's also unique in the world and inviting in its own way.
I'd definitely recommend a visit since this scale of urban planning is quite a rare opportunity.
The biggest problem area of Brasília in my opinion is incidentally where the landmarks are concentrated, on the "Esplanada" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monumental_Axis). It's an extremely wide open area with little tree cover, and bounded by wide roads encouraging aggressive driving and persistent exhaust fumes. Although the landmarks themselves are interesting, it's just not that much fun to walk between them. If you contrast to The Malls of Washington DC or London, the difference is that Brasília is clearly auto-oriented. You can drive from point A to point B in Brasília perhaps faster than any city in the world, but there is a severe tradeoff in how pleasant it is to stroll around the center. If you need to traverse the epicenter where there are 3 levels of vehicle traffic with a parking lot for the shopping center overlaying the central bus station, overlaying an underground tunnel that keeps the central flow moving, there's just no way to avoid feeling like a very tiny insect in a vast pneumatic machine ejecting vehicular traffic to every possible known destination.
That said, once you get out of the very center into the residential superblocks, I find it to be quite picturesque and pleasant to walk around. Each superblock has only a single entrance and has speed bumps throughout, so traffic is well controller. The apartment buildings are mostly raised so the ground floor is open and you can walk underneath. This makes it so you can walk on almost every square inch of ground in the residential areas. It certainly lacks a certain urban vibrancy that many Brazilians and Latinos love about their South American cities, but it's also unique in the world and inviting in its own way.
I'd definitely recommend a visit since this scale of urban planning is quite a rare opportunity.