Urban mobility: how to build friendly cities

(Panama, May 28, 2012). The growth of Panama in recent years and the increase in the population of its capital - city with a population of over one and a half million - have led to a spatial expansion without adequate urban planning. The Panamanian authorities are now making major investments to overcome this situation. To provide tools to support these efforts CAF - development bank of Latin America - organized the Seminar on Urban Mobility held on May 28 and 29.

Rubén Ramírez, CAF director representative in Panama, said at the opening, "the high concentration of population in urban areas is a matter of concern for CAF in its objective of achieving sustainable cities. One of the most important requirements in this area, among many others, is the efficiency of mobility and urban transport."

The CAF executive added, “We have been building a working agenda on issues of mobility and urban transport in countries like Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. This seminar which starts today offers the actors in civil society and the Panamanian government views and experiences from other countries to start a dialogue which stimulates development of viable and efficient public policies."

The seminar was opened by Ariela Esses, representing the Ministry of the Presidency; Jaime Ford, acting minister for Housing and Land Management; Robert Roy, executive secretary, Panama Metro; Rafael Escobar, director of Urban Mobility of the Traffic and Land Transport Authority; Rosana Méndez, mayor of Panama City; and Rubén Ramírez, CAF director representative.

The holding of the seminar opens a space for improving knowledge of international practices along with discussion of issues that can guide the success of the large investment being made in the Panama Metro Project and other initiatives to improve public transport taken by the Panamanian government.

Robert Roy, executive secretary of Panama Metro, thanked CAF for its support for the seminar where the possibilities of other projects, such as studies of line two of the Metro, can be shared with technical and financial experts.

Panama City Mayoress Roxana Méndez said that jointly with the Metro's technical team and CAF support they are analyzing new models for sidewalks for pedestrian mobility and possible alternatives for parking.

Specifically topics such as integration of modes of transport, financing, institutional and land management as a means of achieving sustainable cities were discussed.

Solutions for Latin America

CAF’s role in financing this sector is crucial. The development bank has become the main source of multilateral financing for roads, urban transport, energy, and water and sanitation for many of its shareholder countries.

Its portfolio in this sector at the end of 2011 totaled USD 5 billion. These funds have financed the construction and equipping of a large number of projects, approved in recent years, for an estimated USD 3 billion annually for public infrastructure, a track record that has been accompanied by specialized technical assistance.

Specifically in Panama, CAF has been granting technical cooperation funds for studies of the transport system over several years. In 2011 the bank approved USD 400 million for construction of the first line of the Panama Metro, a project that requires a major intervention in the city, while offering a great opportunity to rethink the public transport service which is intimately linked to urban development.