Social Development and Public Governance > Social Development > Urban Development
Urban Rehabilitation and Heritage Conservation
URBAN REHABILITATION
The rapid growth of Latin American and Caribbean cities has prompted a surge in the economies of the region, and has also created new problems. One of them is the abandonment of the central areas of cities, mainly caused by the combination of consumer preferences and deficient public policies that encourage urban sprawl. The most dynamic economic activities, high-income households and the service industries that supply them, move to the periphery, demanding new infrastructure and urban services while causing an economic and social decay of central areas.Through loans and technical assistance, the IDB supports local and state governments in implementing programs to rehabilitate and develop these abandoned central areas, which involve: changes in zoning; infrastructure rehabilitation; improvement of public spaces; the promotion of new economic activities: the preservation of heritage buildings; and the redevelopment of private buildings and underutilized land. In order to sustain such interventions, projects require significant financial and institutional resources, as well as a strong consensus between all interested parties. Successful projects require well-coordinated interventions, executed in a suitable sequence and with sufficient scale to counteract the negative trends in real estate markets, as well as concerted interventions between the public institutions and the private sector. Based on good practice studies the Bank emphasizes the need for a strong institutional capacity of the executing agencies in charge of urban rehabilitation projects.
URBAN HERITAGE CONSERVATION
Latin America and the Caribbean boast a diverse and rich urban heritage, with many of their historic centers, monuments, and archaeological areas declared as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. Central and local governments increasingly give priority to urban heritage conservation and development projects, due to their desire to preserve monuments and buildings valued by the community and take advantage of growing urban and real estate value of the heritage sites.
The Inter-American Development Bank, through an active technical cooperation and lending program, assists its borrowing countries to protect and develop this patrimony. Through lessons from initial projects, the IDB recognizes that successful urban heritage preservations projects require high levels of community and private sector involvement in the design, financing, and execution of these conservation efforts. The IDB concentrates on projects that accelerate economic and social development and meet strict technical, economic, financial, institutional and environmental project eligibility criteria; in order to qualify a project must:
- Establish self-sustainable models of urban heritage rehabilitation, development and preservation, with the full support of the beneficiaries and owners of the sites;
- Facilitate public-private cooperation in project execution and financing;
- Improve the regulatory environment and public functions involving conservation; and
- Distribute efficiently the costs and benefits of conservation efforts between involved parties.
Last updated: 06/15/07
