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.
"The issue is controversial because it determines the type of use land may be given.
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 .
The government has launched an aggressive plan to promote investments in two areas of most interest to tourism: the former U.S. base in Sherman, in the Caribbean, and Amador, on the banks of the Canal on the Pacific side.
Authorities in Panama have set in motion an ambitious plan to attract investment in two areas of most interest to tourism: the old Sherman U.S.
The German government will allocate about $27 million for regional health, violence prevention, energy and sustainable development projects.
The German ambassador in El Salvador, Christian Stocks, and the Secretary General of SICA, Juan Daniel German, formalized the implementation of four projects.
The first project, "Land Use Planning and Sustainable Development (OTDES)" corresponds to a request by the Heads of State and Government of SICA countries, expressed in the Declaration of Comalapa, last October, and aims to strengthen the capacity and performance of institutions responsible for land use planning in the region, with the aim of promoting regional and territorial development processes, allowing both the promotion of economic and social development such as an improvement in risk management and natural disasters.
In the past four decades great advances have not been made in the problems of water distribution, solid waste management, land use and transport.
Nine municipal administrations have presented action plans for solving the problems facing Guatemala City, but most have ended up as just that, plans.
"The current municipal authorities, in conjunction with the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), produced a study in 2008 called "Perspectives of the Urban Environment: Geo Guatemala City" in which a diagnosis of the city’s problems was given and a solution offered for each of them. It stressed that with population growth, the horizontal extension of urbanisation, the socioeconomic inequality in the greater metropolitan area, there would also be an increase in territorial imbalances.
Inspired by the growth of Los Reyes, multiple residential developments are being built in vast areas.
Los Reyes was the first of its kind in Costa Rica. Located in a 324 hectare area in Alajuela, it combines residential solutions in large areas with other services like a club, swimming pool, golf, tennis and football facilities.
The property idea has grown and been followed by more residential projects, each with other integrated developments, the latest of which, Las Manzanas, is currently under construction.
The Ministry of Housing has put out to tender the " Residencial Nueva Providencia " ("New Providence Resideces) a 6-hectare urban development project in the province of Colon.
The initiative includes urban development made up of residential (multi-level buildings), lots designated for commercial trade, a nursery, a health center, a lot for a police station, recreation areas (playground, parks) and all the infrastructure services needed to provide a complete housing solution to the population of Colon.
Commercial growth is advancing far faster than the regulations that should be controling it, creating territorial disorder and public infrastructure problems.
The cantons of the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) that have the biggest challenge are those with the most important business growth (Escazú, Santa Ana, La Union, Curridabat, Montes de Oca, Moravia and Central Heredia).
A document contains summarized development proposals for 541 major projects with a total investment budget of over $2,500 million.
The overall objective of the plan is to formulate a tool for territorial planning in the medium and long term (projected to the year 2024), which integrates proposed land development - rural and urban- at a local and sub-regional level, with the opportunities and challenges of each of the municipalities that are part of the Sub Region 1, in order to achieve feasible and viable proposals that will contribute to improving the economic, social, and environmental conditions and the quality of life of its inhabitants, providing the social agents with an instrument that will allow them to manage local development efficiently .
The new handbook designed for teachers in the construction industry contains technical information for constructing buildings that are safe from natural disasters.
The Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Pablo Fernando Martinez said the book includes twenty new construction systems, which have been reviewed by structural engineers.
"In a field study made by the engineers around the country, over 30% of the vertical structures were found to be vulnerable to natural phenomena." said an article in Elnuevodiario.com.ni
French Lycée Paul Gauguin of Panama starts operation in Panama Pacifico
London & Regional Panamá, is proud to announce the start of operations of the French Lycée Paul Gauguin of Panama, who joins the rapidly growing group of visionaries who have found in Panama Pacifico, the place to settle, do business, live and have fun.
Delphine Blanchard, the President of the "Lycée Français Paul Gauguin de Panama" and Henry Kardonski, Managing Director of London & Regional Panama, signed an agreement that will allow this educational institution belonging to the french network of schools abroad (www.aefe.fr), to which more than 400 educational schools in 130 countries are affiliated, offer tri lingual and bicultural quality education to children and young people of any nationality.
The developer, Nova S.A., has been awarded the contract to construct the $25.8 million project.
The development comprises a residential area with buildings of various sizes, commercial premises, kindergarten, health center, police station and recreation areas (sports field, parks) and all the infrastructure services necessary for a complete housing solution.
The region west of Panama City has become a focus for new residential and commercial investment projects.
The area used to attract social-interest housing projects but now it is difficult to find developments costing less than $30,000 and many units' price tags are more than $100,000 with some as much as $200,000.
Melissa Novoa, writing for Martesfinanciero.com, comments that, "real estate developers agree that a series of infrastructure improvements including a four-lane highway, a new route into the capital and no toll fees have been significant factors in their decision to invest in the area".
Named “Residencial Manuel Castillo”, the project includes residential and commercial areas.
It comprises a residential area with apartment buildings, lots for commercial space, a nursery, health center, a lot for a police station and recreational spaces (playground, parks). It is intended to be a complete housing solution for the province of Colón.