Lack of urban expansion plans affects the poorest
During the presentation of the Initiative for Urban Expansion panel, the Mayors of Valledupar and Monteria, and Hawassa and Mekelle of Ethiopia presented the urban expansion plans applied in their cities.
(Medellin, April 8th, 2014). According to experts, it is necessary to implement urban expansion plans, because their absence restricts supply and increases the price of land, which has negative financial, social, and environmental impacts, particularly on the communities with limited resources.
"L. Victor Traverso, CAF's Director Representative in Colombia, stated that, "it is necessary to change the approach of growth in the cities", assuring that the Initiative for urban expansion shows an innovative approach to face the growth of major cities.
The results of the study, which was carried out in over 120 cities, challenges the traditional concepts of urban containment as an alternative to growth, and presents four basic principles to follow: realistic demographic and urban footprint estimates; expansion of the urban limit; assurance of the right of way of a network of arterial routes, and objective selection of the public spaces of the city of the future.
Finally, during his intervention, CAF's Director Representative in Colombia pointed out that, "as a development bank, we are convinced of the advantages of this initiative. This is why we have developed an alliance with NYU, as well as with Monteria and Valledupar, so they can prepare their expansion. We hope that these cities may be a model of growth for others, and that this contributes to the evolution of the discussion regarding urban topics", he concluded.
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