Guayaquil’s urban transformation, an example for the rest of Latin America

In recent decades, Guayaquil has experienced one of the fastest, most comprehensive urban renewal processes in Latin America. Within a few years, the city redeveloped important public spaces such as boardwalks, parks, streets and squares, as well as buildings abandoned and decaying since the 1960s and 1970s due to lack of urban planning, which also led to the degradation of the city center. 

But everything changed in the 1990s, when a new public policy began to transform the city through the Malecón 2000 project, which called for restoration, construction and sanitation of avenues, streets and neighborhoods, significantly transforming the city. 

Thanks to this project, the once neglected Guayaquil city center has now regained its leisure, tourist and even residential potential. The once rundown boardwalk is now the city’s main attraction. The Santa Ana hill, previously considered a highly dangerous area, is also now one of the main tourist sites. The once polluted Estero Salado has now become a transit area for boats, and a site for nautical competitions and other recreational activities, thanks to the Salado Boardwalk and decontamination measures. The same applies to many other areas of Guayaquil, which have been recovered thanks local authorities and the correct urban planning. 

Apart from physical infrastructure, however, the renovation significantly restored the trust of the city’s residents, fostering a sense of pride and promoting their participation, not only by expressing their opinion, but as investors in projects that benefit and improve their quality of life. 

CAF’s contribution to urban development

CAF has been one of the strongest partners in this transformation, through technical and financial assistance to devise and implement different projects, such as Metrovía, a project that helps develop mass transport and favors mobility by slashing travel times by 85% for public transport users.

CAF has also participated in the Guayaquil Land Transport Terminal project. Built in 1985, it showed signs of decay and neglect ever since its inauguration. Still, the terminal continued to operate for almost 20 years, and it was only in 2004 that a CAF-funded project started the renovation, redevelopment and expansion of the new terminal, which was completed in 2008. Two floors were renovated for inter-cantonal, inter-provincial and international buses, with 39 platforms for each terminal. The urban bus terminal has 15 platforms. Thus, new and functional services provide a pleasant user experience, with a newly renovated parking lot, and indoor facilities including a waiting room, retail stores, a food court and kiosks, squares and green areas, as well as remodeled support areas for general operation.

Another example is the 400-meter Estero Salado boardwalk, a Guayaquil icon built in 2009 as part of the city’s renewal process. The CAF-funded project has become a leisure area for all the city residents, who visit the two-story facilities to enjoy the estuary landscape and the city skyline. On the upper platform, there is a 55-meter pedestrian suspension bridge and decks resembling boat sails. Leisure areas, gardens and squares, sculptures and stained glass, dancing water fountains and colorful lights and a jetty to take boat rides along the estuary have helped promote leisure and tourism.

CAF also helped improve the quality of life of the low-income population in Guayaquil, with sewerage works in various cooperatives such as Bastión Popular and Los Vergeles, in order to improve the health of an estimated 172,000 people living in three marginal urban sectors. High-quality public infrastructure also reached low-income neighborhoods of the city through the Road Works Program for Guayaquil Densely Populated Areas, with the construction of sidewalks, curbs and complementary road works in these areas.

Also, the Av. De las Américas interchange improved the condition of the city’s road infrastructure, reducing travel times, improving intra-zone mobility and reducing traffic on Benjamín Rosales Ave. This results in savings in travel time for commuters, in vehicle operating costs, a reduction of accidents and of the environmental impact caused by gas emissions and noise pollution of motor vehicles. This project benefits more than 650,000 residents living in the indirect influence area of the interchange.