Between kilometre 4 and 8.5 on the road to Guatemala City Atlantic there is a proliferation of malls.
The commercial hubs of Portales, Walmart and Metronorte are located at kilometer 4, Plaza San Rafel and Commercial del Norte at kilometre 7.5, and from November 15 the Centra Norte will be added to the list, consisting of a public transport terminal and mall.
An announcement has been made for the launch in 2013 of a $4 million tender for a study of the construction of a mega bypass highway in the Guatemalan metropolitan area.
After having dragged on through the course of the present administration, the project, initially called the Peripheral Metropolitan Ring Road and then the Regional Ring Road, has been mentioned by the communications minister, Alejandro Sinibaldi, who announced that "the objective is to perform engineering and ground plan studies. The new studies will cost U.S. $4 million and the bidding process will begin in June 2013. "
Economists and former officials from the government make up the G-40 team, which is promoting fiscal reform.
The team of former Ministers of Finance, economists, former government officials and researchers from different ideological persuasions, aims to resurrect the financial proposal by the Tax Dialogue Promotion Group ("Grupo Promotor del Diálogo Fiscal") which was presented in 2008.
There is no more space to build in the municipality of Guatemala, reason for which authorities are promoting "different density," i.e., taller buildings.
There are very few metropolitan areas where there is still room for growth. Green spaces are decreasing and the streets are becoming narrower. Many of the residential developments are already moving to the adjacent municipalities, especially in Santa Catarina Pinula.