In 1956, Brazilian president Juscelino Kubitschek committed his government to the erection of a new federal capital in the country's remote interior, to be inaugurated before the end of his term of office. This constituted a major step toward achieving a two–centuries–old dream of spreading the country's population into the hinterland of Brazil. Through a national competition held the following year, an international jury selected the entry by Lucio Costa (1902—1998) for the urban design of the new city—the so–called Pilot Plan (Plano Piloto) of Brasilia.