By incorporating location intelligence into urban planning, it becomes possible to develop infrastructure adapted to the needs of citizens, enhancing living conditions in any given city. In addition, spatial data helps to optimize costs and prioritize government administration projects.
What does location intelligence provide to urban planning?
Heat maps are used by any business sector to identify foot traffic and vehicular mobility patterns in an area or point of interest, as their visualization presents multiple pieces of data in a way that makes immediate sense.
Heat maps can be used to identify foot traffic patterns from a country-level scale to a more detailed level such as the infrastructure of a store or building.
Location intelligence is revolutionizing the way companies establish, operate and expand their business.
From deciding where to locate a new store to analyzing foot traffic to gauge market competition, the use of location data is growing.
One of the key components of location intelligence is data related to points of interest (POIs). POIs indicate a specific location in an area of interest to businesses: it can be a store, a hospital, a university, or a corporate building, among others, depending on the information required for the particular target, helping companies make faster, more informed and cost-effective decisions.
The construction and operation for 20 years of a container port in Isla Margarita, in Panama, is governed by a detailed concession agreement.
"... The ambitious port project will have three docks and will be located in an exclusive area of Colon, where it will compete with the terminals currently in operation in the Atlantic: Cristobal, Colon Container Terminal and Manzanillo International Terminal. "
In eight countries where Xinwei, the company awarded a contract for the construction of the canal, claims to have operations, nobody is aware of its existence.
A report prepared by the Associated Press also notes that in other countries large telecommunications investments were promised by the company but there have been long delays in their execution, including Nicaragua.
Announcements have been made citing more impetus for the development of the Caribbean Coast based around modern port infrastructure which meets international market requirements.
"In the Caribbean region there are few roads, low levels of population concentration, low levels of skilled labor and therefore the project will be carried out as a mega project to develop the Caribbean coast," said Hugo Lopez Sanchez, Deputy Director General of the Directorate General of Water Transport (DGTA by its initials in Spanish), at the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (MTI).
A pre-feasibility study on a rail transport system for El Salvador has as its main concept the interconnection with other countries in the region.
Laprensagrafica.com reports that Jose Antonio Sebastian, director of strategic development and international business for the company Tramrail said that the study "will designate routes for connecting with the Central American countries ...
The Panama Canal expansion has generated a wave of investment in port infrastructure, especially in warehouses and distribution centers.
While waiting for the opening in 2015 of the expanded Panama Canal, the ports of the United States are preparing to compete for the lucrative increase in trade that is coming.
Developers, investors and the logistics industry are counting on ports, confident that these will be the main beneficiaries of the expansion of the Canal, which is expected to provide a big push for ports on the East Coast and the Gulf of Mexico, and for the logistic facilities strategically located near them.
Nicaragua's government will invest $ 3.5 million in the renovation and expansion of the cruise port, and then hand over its administration to Royal Caribbean.
Last July it was announced that "the U.S. shipping company Royal Caribbean presented Nicaraguan authorities with an investment project in the town of San Juan del Sur on the Pacific side of the country, which aims to provide adequate facilities for boats and large cruise ships. "
A partnership has been formed between the Nicaraguan government and the Spanish group Barceló to build an international airport in the Montelimar resort, in San Rafael del Sur.
An article in Laprensa.com.ni reports that "The Government of Nicaragua and the Spanish hotel group Barceló have signed an agreement to build an international airport in the Montelimar resort, in the Pacific, officials said on Sunday.
The Brazilian construction company Andrade Gutierrez has retired from the Monkey Point project, and the government of Nicaragua recognizes that "it is not easy to make it happen."
An article in Prensa.com.ni reports that "The prefeasibility and feasibility studies made by Andrade Gutierrez have revealed that the construction cost per kilometer of the port would be about two million dollars, according to information provided to the press.
The Government of Nicaragua has announced the constitution of a company in Hong Kong in order to raise the necessary capital to build the wet and dry canals projects it has planned.
From an article in Elpueblopresidente.com:
The President, Daniel Ortega, said the Government had signed a memorandum of understanding with a company incorporated in Hong Kong, China, for the construction of the Grand Interoceanic Canal in Nicaragua.
Adding to its investments in Colon in Panama and Roatan in Honduras, is a further $40 million which will go into San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua, in an exclusive terminal for cruise ships.
The Nicaragua project was announced earlier last year, but has not been firmed up since.
Now an article in Elnuevodiario.com.ni reports that "the news last week was reconfirmed by the Deputy Mayor of San Juan del Sur, Rivas Adelina, and a host of personalities from the Chambers of Tourism and the Government. Among them was the chief executive of the Nicaraguan Tourism Institute, Intur, Mario Salinas. Everyone was enthusiastic about the initiative."
APM Terminals has signed a concession contract for 32 years to build and operate a container terminal with an investment of $900 million.
The start of construction is scheduled for September. This first stage, at a cost of $300 million, should be completed in 2015.
"The company said, through a statement, that they have signed a concession for 32 years with the Port Authority of Lazaro Cardenas (APILAC) for the design, financing, construction, operation and maintenance of a new and specialized terminal", reported Americaeconomia.com.
Nicaragua has signed a contract with a consortium made up of the Dutch companies Royal Haskoning, DHV and Ecorys to perform a pre-feasibility study for work on an Interoceanic Canal.
The studies, at a cost of $720 thousand, will take about six months.
Manuel Coronel Kautz, Director of the Authority of the Grand Canal, told Elnuevodiario.com.ni, "...