Nacion.com reports that approval of the most recent proposal for a land use plan has stalled, "while the executive branch tries to reconcile the clash of interests between the various sectors involved in the matter."

Various proposals have been put forward in recent years, replacing one another, at a cost of tens of millions of dollars. One plan alone, the Urban and Regional Plan for the Greater Metropolitan Area (PRUGAM), rejected by INVU in 2010, cost nearly 18 million euros.

Failure to update the rules governing the development of the largest urban concentration in Costa Rica is affecting investment opportunities in the area.

Source: Nacion.com

More on this topic

Urban Management Plan for GAM in Costa Rica

November 2013

The greater metropolitan area (GAM) needs to renew a plan dating from 1982 to address overcrowding, sound, light and environmental pollution, poor waste disposal, and traffic chaos.

Nación.com reports that "After years of debate and millions of dollars spent on failed projects, environmentalists, public bodies, private companies and municipalities have reached a consensus on the GAM 2013 Plan."

Ordnance Planning for Greater Metropolitan Area

May 2013

The Government of Costa Rica is preparing a third plan for land ordnance in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM by its initials in Spanish).

This was announced by Guido Monge, Minister of Housing and Settlements (MIVAH)."It is called Plan GAM 2013, and will be built on the remains of its two predecessors: the Regional Urban Plan for the Greater Metropolitan Area (PRUGAM) and the Land Use Plan (POTGAM) (the latter introduced in January this year) which never, because of their designs, reached the approval stage, " noted an article in Elfinancierocr.com.

Land Management Plan in Costa Rican GAM

July 2012

Opposition to the expansion of the boundary for urban development in the greater metropolitan area is preventing the necessary renewal of the rules for land use.

Led by the Ministry of Housing, the Territorial Ordering Plan for the Greater Metropolitan Area created by the Institute of Housing and Urban Development, is in a period of consultation.

Confusion Over Limits for Real Estate Development

May 2012

The official proposals for defining urban areas in the Greater Metropolitan Area in Costa Rica, contains contradictions and generates uncertainty.

A second proposal for the Land Use Plan of the GAM (Potgam in Spanish), which has been released for public consultation by the Ministry of Housing and Human Settlements (MIHAS in Spanish), has generated more controversy and confusion over the new limits for an urban containment radius .