The Inter-American Development Bank today announced the approval of US$39.1 million in financing for Vitória, the Brazilian state capital of Espírito Santo, under the PROCIDADES credit facility for integrated urban development programs for municipalities in Brazil to improve the living conditions of their inhabitants.
The new financing, the fifth approved to date, will help meet priority needs of the 310,000 inhabitants of the municipality of Vitória, such as improving environmental sanitation and city services in low-income neighborhoods. The program will also finance the redevelopment of decaying downtown areas and improved urban drainage to prevent flooding, and the strengthening of the institutional capacity of certain key municipal government agencies, such as the Department of the Environment.
“The program’s value added is that the proposed solutions address the main urban problems in Vitória in an integrated, coordinated way,” said Eduardo Figueroa, IDB project team leader.
With this financing for Vitória, the PROCIDADES program has approved five operations totaling US$131.9 million for municipalities in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Paraná, Mato Grosso do Sul and Espírito Santo. Programs in several other cities are in preparation. Among the most advanced are Belford Roxo and Duque de Caxias in the state of Rio de Janeiro; Curitiba, Maringá and Ponta Grossa in Paraná; São Luís in Maranhão; and Catanduva in São Paulo.
PROCIDADES, a credit facility approved by the IDB in 2006 with the potential to finance up to US$800 million, is designed to promote urban development in poor neighborhoods, mass transit and transportation, sanitation, social services, local economic development and institutional strengthening.