Barrio vs. Urbanization

Buzzard

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Feb 28, 2004
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Can anyone explain the difference between the two?
Different areas on the map of POP are designated as either one or the other.
Are they treated differently in government services or taxes?
Inquiring minds want to know.
 

Derfish

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Jan 7, 2016
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These are just my thoughts on it, but an urbanization is a development and a barrio is a neighborhood usually thought of as a poor neighborhood. Don't know why they would be designated differently on a map.
 

Virgo

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Oct 26, 2013
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Can anyone explain the difference between the two?
Different areas on the map of POP are designated as either one or the other.
Are they treated differently in government services or taxes?
Inquiring minds want to know.
Per the official dictionary, barrio is just a district within a city.

In common parlance, the word barrio tends to be associated with the old parts of the city that have existed since anyone can remember, and/or popular areas where the "common people" live.

Urbanizaci?n is often reserved in common parlance for new (often upper scale) developments that used to be rural areas until recently and have been "urbanized" (meaning, converted from rural to urban/city areas). Sometimes they use the term "ensanche" which means an elongation or addition to the city (same as an urbanizaci?n).

AFAIK neither barrios nor urbanizaciones have any legal status within the government. The smaller government unit within a city is the city itself. The city councilors (regidores) are elected through party lists, not by elections at the district level. "Juntas de vecinos" (neighborhood councils) exist, but as far as I know they are just self-run "pressure groups".
 

Virgo

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Oct 26, 2013
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These are just my thoughts on it, but an urbanization is a development and a barrio is a neighborhood usually thought of as a poor neighborhood. Don't know why they would be designated differently on a map.

In the US, they associate "barrio" with a Ghetto where (mostly poor) Spanish-speaking immigrants live. Obviously the people living there called the area "barrio", simply meaning a district within a city, but others not knowing any better assumed that "barrio" necessarily meant a "poor" district. In the DR the word is more neutral, but newer developments that are added to the city from the surrounding rural area are rarely or never called barrios (at least not by the developers and marketers themselves, perhaps people on the street may call any distinctly identified area of the city a barrio).
 
Feb 7, 2007
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In official terms, Barrio in Dominican speak is the same as Colonia in Mexican.
Meaning: sector of the city.

Locally in the DR, Barrio can refer as mentioned to:
a) old part of city that had ever been there
e.g. in Higuey Barrio San Martin (and it's not poor area, it has all types of people from lower middle class to high rich living in mansions)
b) poor part of city

In Higuey, word "urbanizacion" or "ensanche" is rarely used, more or less the parts of city are referred to as "sector(es)"
 

josh2203

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Dec 5, 2013
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As said above, I also think the difference is more neutral in the DR, for example my FIL uses a lot of the expression "en el barrio they said this and that", simply referring to the neighborhood where they live, which is not poor.

Personally I?d consider barrio to be something where people know each other better and spend time hanging outside on the street, whereas in urbanizacions they tend to be more locked up in their homes. There well might be exceptions, but this is my observation. I?ve only lived in barrios in Puerto Plata, and to be honest would not even consider living in an urbanizacion.

I have no idea why is this so (some people say that it?s because the areas are on a higher ground), but again, what I have seen, is that better barrios do get served better in terms of electricity and water than poorer barrios (unless they are in the same circuit) or urbanizacions. Again, I?ve lived in barrios 5+ years and during that time, we have had to order water truck exactly once (cost of full truck 400 DOP), last summer during the worst drought.

There are programmed electricity blackouts, but they seldom cut it outside of these programmed times, and in our case it has always been max. 12 hours weekly.
 

william webster

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Jan 16, 2009
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In official terms, Barrio in Dominican speak is the same as Colonia in Mexican.
Meaning: sector of the city.

Locally in the DR, Barrio can refer as mentioned to:
a) old part of city that had ever been there
e.g. in Higuey Barrio San Martin (and it's not poor area, it has all types of people from lower middle class to high rich living in mansions)
b) poor part of city

In Higuey, word "urbanizacion" or "ensanche" is rarely used, more or less the parts of city are referred to as "sector(es)"

Mexico has another word - fracionamiento, as I recall.... or fracionamento...
like a development or subdivision.

You never hear that word here
 

Virgo

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Oct 26, 2013
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a) old part of city that had ever been there
e.g. in Higuey Barrio San Martin (and it's not poor area, it has all types of people from lower middle class to high rich living in mansions)
b) poor part of city

In Higuey, word "urbanizacion" or "ensanche" is rarely used, more or less the parts of city are referred to as "sector(es)"

(a) is the original dictionary meaning (ans it is in the "official" dictionary).

Sector is a general word, not specific t cities, just like in English. When used for city subdivisions it has a slightly more formal sound, and may denote a somewhat more "upscale" area.

One reason why "urbanizaci?n" (ensanche) is rarely used in Higuey is that there are very few of them. I recall "Luisa Perla" and another one. Urbanizaciones are typically professionally designed by architects and engineers. The unplanned/improvised additions to the city of adjacent rural areas converted for residential use is not normally called an urbanization (and shouldn't).

Have you heard of barrio "Pueblo Loco" (crazy town) in Higuey? Probably not. It's the original name for San Martin. The priest who proposed the name change explained it the other day in his Facebook page. The original name referred to the unplanned nature of the development.