Santo Domingo & The Development Of A Democratic City
On the wake of Bofill?s comment on the development of Santo Domingo and its current appearance, I?ll give my overview. This is mostly an economic point of view.
SANTO DOMINGO IS A PLEASANT CITY
For starters, Santo Domingo is unquestionably a pleasant city. This is subjective to the type of city it actually is (i.e. primate capital city in a developing country, a city that developed by the whims of individuals rather than a master plan, etc.). Given those attributes of the city, Santo Domingo developed in a much better fashion than most cities of comparable sizes and position in economic, historic, and political form. Although, one cannot compare the nicest avenue in Santo Domingo with the extremely beautiful and impressive Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City or the mother of boulevards the Champs Elise in Paris, Santo Domingo does have some of the finest and loveliest avenues in Latin America. This is a city of real distinct neighborhoods with varied characteristics, both good and bad. Santo Domingo is a major cultural center with some of the largest concentration of museums, theaters, art display, and history in the region. Santo Domingo is the economic center for a huge area of the Caribbean. Given that Santo Domingo is a metropolis, it?s not perfect, but it?s great.
One thing many people need to understand is that cities develop according to their times and the type of government in power at any given time. Santo Domingo is strapped in different eras, clearly noticeable as one travels across the city. The Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo gives an ambiance and feeling of a city that has been frozen in the 16th century making it a sharp contrast to Bella Vista, a neighborhood that is very now, and Bella Vista in itself is a sharp contrast to Maria Auxiliadora, a relatively rundown neighborhood.
SANTO DOMINGO: THE COLONIAL ZONE
It?s very clear that the most pleasant and beautiful cities of the world developed under non-democratic regimes. Europe is praised for having urban architectural gems, but those gems were created in times of kingdoms and other forms of non-democratic governments. The same characteristics are found in Santo Domingo itself. The Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo has more architectural integrity and is much more uniform than the rest of the capital because the Colonial Zone was developed during an imperial monarchy. Kings used to build entire cities in uniform architecture with a wall around it and the people who lived in those cities had no say into how the city should be built and/or where a shop should be placed, etc. The city was built and the inhabitants populated it. For those reasons, sections of cities that were developed under Kingdoms and other dictatorial types of regimes tend to be more in harmony (architecturally), but are less efficient for a modern urban economy.
For one thing, the narrow streets in many European cities (and in Colonial Zone), though quaint and beautiful, are an obstacle to expansion. These streets were not built to accommodate modern traffic, as such; huge inefficiencies are found when it comes to delivering goods to these centers when you have modern people, living modern lives in an antiquated setting. No large supermarkets for example, can be built in these colonial cores because: (A) the streets would not support the extra traffic flow, (B) many of the buildings are protected by law and can?t be torn down or modified to the dimensions of a large supermarket, (C) the inability of large shipments to be made directly to the Colonial Zone due to its narrow streets which compromises large vehicles, especially many types of trucks, further hinders the efficiency. As a result, areas like the Colonial Zone would have to depend on much less efficient small shops or colmados rather than one large supermarket that can offer sufficient goods at a relative abundance in a central location and eliminate the unnecessary cost of the inefficiencies in antiquated urban centers in the 21st century.
Another example about the economic inefficiencies of old urban centers is the shopping centers. Old centers such as the Colonial Zone or Central Rome or any other major European city core don?t allow for shopping centers to be built. Part of the reason is purely politically imposed, such as the prohibition of demolishing any old building, even if a 100 year old building has no architectural or historical or cultural importance of any sort. The result is fewer high-productivity specialty stores, which naturally surround the anchor store in a shopping center. Hypermarkets which offer better more affordable prices like Carrefour and/or Plaza Lama can?t locate themselves in old style urban centers like the Colonial Zone in their normal large scales. In addition, even if one supermarket or hypermarket manages to seep into a urban center like that of Colonial Santo Domingo or old Europe, the restriction of expansion would ensure no competition to such store at their own level, forcing the hypermarket to compete against the much more expensive and inefficient small stores. A hypermarket being more productive, that would mean greater profits for the hypermarket at highly inflated price levels, hurting nobody except the consumer. Is this the price people are willing to pay for aesthetic beauty? Is aesthetic beauty more important that economic productivity in a country like the Dominican Republic?
SANTO DOMINGO: THE MODERN CITY
For those of you not familiar with Santo Domingo, the Colonial Zone only makes up a mere 1% of the current urban land area of around 400 square kilometers. The modern city surrounds the old in all directions except south, which is due to the presence of the Caribbean Sea and technically to the east by the Ozama River, but the modern city continues beyond the eastern banks of the river for a few kilometers east towards the airport. The modern city is not uniform in appearance or development patterns at all. Each section of the city has its own style, its own unique feel and micro-culture. For example, shopping along Avenida Duarte is a totally different experience from Shopping in exclusive addresses in Naco or Piantini. The general ambiance in Villa Francisca is worlds apart from the more relaxed ambiance of leafy Gazcue. The misery and filth of Capotillo is unknown in areas of Los Rios or Los Cacigascos, areas where the average property is valued more than any 10 or more properties in Capotillo. Even when there are confrontations with the police in Capotillo by rebellious youth frustrated at the power cuts of the electricity they can?t afford, Bella Vista appears serene, civilized, and relatively the feeling of being in another land while in Capotillo a miniature war is occurring. Santo Domingo has many faces.
However, modern Santo Domingo is much more economically efficient than Colonial Santo Domingo. For one, modern Santo Domingo is easily accessible and easy to travel via large, wide, and long avenues and boulevards. The modern city is filled with convenient and highly efficient shopping malls and shopping centers. The modern city expands at the whims of economic forces and develops according to what each individual wants, not what a master plan imposes. Modern Santo Domingo is the embodiment of democracy in a land where democracy is a relatively new concept. So yes, you do see skyscrapers next to gas stations and large houses next to small ones, but that is the result of democratic forces being imbedded into the local culture since the end of the war of 1965.
The reasons why the city sprawls is due to relative cheap land prices. Large tracts of land are now being purchased and efficiently developed into residential projects where every house looks the same. Although monotonous it is to drive through these new and pleasant neighborhoods (the Ciudad Modelo project near Villa Mella is a perfect example), building housing in this fashion is a lot more efficient and relatively cheaper. The savings from lower overhead, better utilization of labor and equipment, and similar architectural designs are significant. Moreover, price competition from a large supply of housing causes big developers to apply ?design to cost? techniques to reduce labor and materials. The reasons these new trends are taking place is because land is so cheap. The reason why land is so cheap is because of little to no zoning laws which would artificially create scarcity in land available for development. This enables developers to sell their houses at much more affordable prices and thus, appeal to the up and growing middle class that is now moving into these spacious and new housing styles.
Modern Santo Domingo has developed in the most economically efficient way because government and ridiculous laws were not present to inhibit economic development for the sake of some aesthetic beauty that would not benefit most urbanites beyond the pleasures of their eyes. We all know that what counts is the pleasure of the wallets, not necessarily the eyes. First comes the wallet, then everything else. Because of these realities, businesses in modern Santo Domingo are much more efficient than otherwise. In modern Santo Domingo, savvy businessmen decide the location of their firms and their branches based on what areas would give them the lowest general costs and the greatest productivity. Citibank built its Acropolis Tower and Shopping Center where it did, because that was the area that best suited its objective. If the tower would have been built in San Carlos neighborhood, not only would that be inefficient since most of the offices workers most certainly don?t live in that part of town, which would have added extra time cost and monetary cost due to the commute across town during rush hour, further reducing the amount of time and energy the office workers would have to do their job. By Citibank building this structure along Avenida Winston Churchill, the tenants of that building gain efficiency and better productivity due to the proximity to the home of its employees, the general more efficiency present in modern Santo Domingo compared to older areas, and a host of other things that make that area the best choice for that structure.
If there was some zoning law prohibiting that area from receiving such structure, Citibank would then had to build the building elsewhere in the city, causing that property to be less efficient than it could have been. In short, modern Santo Domingo is much more economically efficient than the Colonial Zone because it developed according to market forces and not the whim of some master plan that could have limited the economic expansion of the city. For those reasons and others, Santo Domingo has the highest productivity, wages, and average income in the entire nation. Now, if what people care about is purely aesthetic beauty over economic efficiency, then lets work to infringe economic development by imposing unnecessary laws and prohibitions in development patterns. But, if we worry more about our economic well being, then lets leave the city to develop according to its most efficient way determined by market forces. Capitalism works best when its left alone. The day when tall structures in Piantini becomes inefficient, that day will be the day many of those towers will be pulverized, but as long as the profitability, economic efficiency, and growth is there, let the towers go up where ever they go.
TALL TOWERS IN PUERTO PLATA: GOOD FOR THE ECONOMY
People speak louder with their wallets than their mouth. I?ll bet if residential towers are built in Puerto Plata, it won?t take long before the first sale is made, why? Because there is demand for it. By not having the towers, we are restricting the economic expansion Puerto Plata and other cities would have had, but many here would prefer to handicap that city?s economic potential all for the sake of aesthetic beauty to the eyes (albeit that Puerto Plata is no that beautiful to start with), however they thought nothing when Sea Horse Ranch was developed on a previous sugar cane field or when other gated communities were developed along rural areas of the north coast and elsewhere. Let economic expansion take its course, in the end it will be for the good of everybody.
The towers would create jobs in the construction industry, engineering industry, financial industry, airline industry (attracting foreigners wanting a high rise lifestyle along a beautiful coast with a mountain backdrop), and taxi industry within and around Puerto Plata, the restaurant industry in the area. Along with that, the sale of those new properties would create tax revenue for the state, more money circulating in and around Puerto Plata, etc. Towers don?t create much more traffic given that most areas in Puerto Plata are easily reached by walking and there is plenty of public transport available. Such projects would increase the property values in the city. As the stock of high-rise apartments increase (apartments that would house middle class peoples and some high class from around the world), that would create demand for more stores, restaurants, nightclubs, shopping centers, art galleries, theaters, gyms, large urban parks, more maids, more chaffers, etc. The point is that a few high rise projects in Puerto Plata would be a blessing to the city?s economy. If small town is what people want, then they should move to Sosua or Cabarete, but Puerto Plata should take advantage of its opportunity into becoming an even stronger economic player in the northern part of the country. These developments won?t have any impact on tourism since: (A) over 90% of ?Puerto Plata?s? tourist never see the city as of now, (B) the views from Playa Dorada, Cofresi, Costambar, and Sosua beaches would not be altered by much, if at all, (C) the presence of these towers attracting wealthier people into the city would put pressure to the city government in investing in the local infrastructure by beautifying the city?s streets, parks, and neighborhoods making Puerto Plata even more appealing to tourists and locals alike.
Of course, Puerto Plata is not the only city in the country that can rekindle a much needed revitalization of this magnitude. Other prime Dominican urban centers that would benefit include: 1) San Pedro de Macoris 2) Santiago 3) La Romana 4) Barahona. The more middle class people those cities accumulate, the more expansion their respective economies will receive. The more those cities grow, the better economy of scale develops allowing for higher productivity, higher wages, higher standards of living, and a faster trickle down effect of prosperity into the countryside as well. The economic benefits are mind boggling, the creation of job will be excellent, the increase productivity will further help the overall economy and the image of the country will be even more appealing as the country will be seen as a great place not just to play, but also to live. Let those baby boomers come down with their relatively fat pockets. There are more than enough to help fund the ailing electricity sector and fix the problem once and for all and plenty of other social ills.
On the wake of Bofill?s comment on the development of Santo Domingo and its current appearance, I?ll give my overview. This is mostly an economic point of view.
SANTO DOMINGO IS A PLEASANT CITY
For starters, Santo Domingo is unquestionably a pleasant city. This is subjective to the type of city it actually is (i.e. primate capital city in a developing country, a city that developed by the whims of individuals rather than a master plan, etc.). Given those attributes of the city, Santo Domingo developed in a much better fashion than most cities of comparable sizes and position in economic, historic, and political form. Although, one cannot compare the nicest avenue in Santo Domingo with the extremely beautiful and impressive Paseo de la Reforma in Mexico City or the mother of boulevards the Champs Elise in Paris, Santo Domingo does have some of the finest and loveliest avenues in Latin America. This is a city of real distinct neighborhoods with varied characteristics, both good and bad. Santo Domingo is a major cultural center with some of the largest concentration of museums, theaters, art display, and history in the region. Santo Domingo is the economic center for a huge area of the Caribbean. Given that Santo Domingo is a metropolis, it?s not perfect, but it?s great.
One thing many people need to understand is that cities develop according to their times and the type of government in power at any given time. Santo Domingo is strapped in different eras, clearly noticeable as one travels across the city. The Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo gives an ambiance and feeling of a city that has been frozen in the 16th century making it a sharp contrast to Bella Vista, a neighborhood that is very now, and Bella Vista in itself is a sharp contrast to Maria Auxiliadora, a relatively rundown neighborhood.
SANTO DOMINGO: THE COLONIAL ZONE
It?s very clear that the most pleasant and beautiful cities of the world developed under non-democratic regimes. Europe is praised for having urban architectural gems, but those gems were created in times of kingdoms and other forms of non-democratic governments. The same characteristics are found in Santo Domingo itself. The Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo has more architectural integrity and is much more uniform than the rest of the capital because the Colonial Zone was developed during an imperial monarchy. Kings used to build entire cities in uniform architecture with a wall around it and the people who lived in those cities had no say into how the city should be built and/or where a shop should be placed, etc. The city was built and the inhabitants populated it. For those reasons, sections of cities that were developed under Kingdoms and other dictatorial types of regimes tend to be more in harmony (architecturally), but are less efficient for a modern urban economy.
For one thing, the narrow streets in many European cities (and in Colonial Zone), though quaint and beautiful, are an obstacle to expansion. These streets were not built to accommodate modern traffic, as such; huge inefficiencies are found when it comes to delivering goods to these centers when you have modern people, living modern lives in an antiquated setting. No large supermarkets for example, can be built in these colonial cores because: (A) the streets would not support the extra traffic flow, (B) many of the buildings are protected by law and can?t be torn down or modified to the dimensions of a large supermarket, (C) the inability of large shipments to be made directly to the Colonial Zone due to its narrow streets which compromises large vehicles, especially many types of trucks, further hinders the efficiency. As a result, areas like the Colonial Zone would have to depend on much less efficient small shops or colmados rather than one large supermarket that can offer sufficient goods at a relative abundance in a central location and eliminate the unnecessary cost of the inefficiencies in antiquated urban centers in the 21st century.
Another example about the economic inefficiencies of old urban centers is the shopping centers. Old centers such as the Colonial Zone or Central Rome or any other major European city core don?t allow for shopping centers to be built. Part of the reason is purely politically imposed, such as the prohibition of demolishing any old building, even if a 100 year old building has no architectural or historical or cultural importance of any sort. The result is fewer high-productivity specialty stores, which naturally surround the anchor store in a shopping center. Hypermarkets which offer better more affordable prices like Carrefour and/or Plaza Lama can?t locate themselves in old style urban centers like the Colonial Zone in their normal large scales. In addition, even if one supermarket or hypermarket manages to seep into a urban center like that of Colonial Santo Domingo or old Europe, the restriction of expansion would ensure no competition to such store at their own level, forcing the hypermarket to compete against the much more expensive and inefficient small stores. A hypermarket being more productive, that would mean greater profits for the hypermarket at highly inflated price levels, hurting nobody except the consumer. Is this the price people are willing to pay for aesthetic beauty? Is aesthetic beauty more important that economic productivity in a country like the Dominican Republic?
SANTO DOMINGO: THE MODERN CITY
For those of you not familiar with Santo Domingo, the Colonial Zone only makes up a mere 1% of the current urban land area of around 400 square kilometers. The modern city surrounds the old in all directions except south, which is due to the presence of the Caribbean Sea and technically to the east by the Ozama River, but the modern city continues beyond the eastern banks of the river for a few kilometers east towards the airport. The modern city is not uniform in appearance or development patterns at all. Each section of the city has its own style, its own unique feel and micro-culture. For example, shopping along Avenida Duarte is a totally different experience from Shopping in exclusive addresses in Naco or Piantini. The general ambiance in Villa Francisca is worlds apart from the more relaxed ambiance of leafy Gazcue. The misery and filth of Capotillo is unknown in areas of Los Rios or Los Cacigascos, areas where the average property is valued more than any 10 or more properties in Capotillo. Even when there are confrontations with the police in Capotillo by rebellious youth frustrated at the power cuts of the electricity they can?t afford, Bella Vista appears serene, civilized, and relatively the feeling of being in another land while in Capotillo a miniature war is occurring. Santo Domingo has many faces.
However, modern Santo Domingo is much more economically efficient than Colonial Santo Domingo. For one, modern Santo Domingo is easily accessible and easy to travel via large, wide, and long avenues and boulevards. The modern city is filled with convenient and highly efficient shopping malls and shopping centers. The modern city expands at the whims of economic forces and develops according to what each individual wants, not what a master plan imposes. Modern Santo Domingo is the embodiment of democracy in a land where democracy is a relatively new concept. So yes, you do see skyscrapers next to gas stations and large houses next to small ones, but that is the result of democratic forces being imbedded into the local culture since the end of the war of 1965.
The reasons why the city sprawls is due to relative cheap land prices. Large tracts of land are now being purchased and efficiently developed into residential projects where every house looks the same. Although monotonous it is to drive through these new and pleasant neighborhoods (the Ciudad Modelo project near Villa Mella is a perfect example), building housing in this fashion is a lot more efficient and relatively cheaper. The savings from lower overhead, better utilization of labor and equipment, and similar architectural designs are significant. Moreover, price competition from a large supply of housing causes big developers to apply ?design to cost? techniques to reduce labor and materials. The reasons these new trends are taking place is because land is so cheap. The reason why land is so cheap is because of little to no zoning laws which would artificially create scarcity in land available for development. This enables developers to sell their houses at much more affordable prices and thus, appeal to the up and growing middle class that is now moving into these spacious and new housing styles.
Modern Santo Domingo has developed in the most economically efficient way because government and ridiculous laws were not present to inhibit economic development for the sake of some aesthetic beauty that would not benefit most urbanites beyond the pleasures of their eyes. We all know that what counts is the pleasure of the wallets, not necessarily the eyes. First comes the wallet, then everything else. Because of these realities, businesses in modern Santo Domingo are much more efficient than otherwise. In modern Santo Domingo, savvy businessmen decide the location of their firms and their branches based on what areas would give them the lowest general costs and the greatest productivity. Citibank built its Acropolis Tower and Shopping Center where it did, because that was the area that best suited its objective. If the tower would have been built in San Carlos neighborhood, not only would that be inefficient since most of the offices workers most certainly don?t live in that part of town, which would have added extra time cost and monetary cost due to the commute across town during rush hour, further reducing the amount of time and energy the office workers would have to do their job. By Citibank building this structure along Avenida Winston Churchill, the tenants of that building gain efficiency and better productivity due to the proximity to the home of its employees, the general more efficiency present in modern Santo Domingo compared to older areas, and a host of other things that make that area the best choice for that structure.
If there was some zoning law prohibiting that area from receiving such structure, Citibank would then had to build the building elsewhere in the city, causing that property to be less efficient than it could have been. In short, modern Santo Domingo is much more economically efficient than the Colonial Zone because it developed according to market forces and not the whim of some master plan that could have limited the economic expansion of the city. For those reasons and others, Santo Domingo has the highest productivity, wages, and average income in the entire nation. Now, if what people care about is purely aesthetic beauty over economic efficiency, then lets work to infringe economic development by imposing unnecessary laws and prohibitions in development patterns. But, if we worry more about our economic well being, then lets leave the city to develop according to its most efficient way determined by market forces. Capitalism works best when its left alone. The day when tall structures in Piantini becomes inefficient, that day will be the day many of those towers will be pulverized, but as long as the profitability, economic efficiency, and growth is there, let the towers go up where ever they go.
TALL TOWERS IN PUERTO PLATA: GOOD FOR THE ECONOMY
People speak louder with their wallets than their mouth. I?ll bet if residential towers are built in Puerto Plata, it won?t take long before the first sale is made, why? Because there is demand for it. By not having the towers, we are restricting the economic expansion Puerto Plata and other cities would have had, but many here would prefer to handicap that city?s economic potential all for the sake of aesthetic beauty to the eyes (albeit that Puerto Plata is no that beautiful to start with), however they thought nothing when Sea Horse Ranch was developed on a previous sugar cane field or when other gated communities were developed along rural areas of the north coast and elsewhere. Let economic expansion take its course, in the end it will be for the good of everybody.
The towers would create jobs in the construction industry, engineering industry, financial industry, airline industry (attracting foreigners wanting a high rise lifestyle along a beautiful coast with a mountain backdrop), and taxi industry within and around Puerto Plata, the restaurant industry in the area. Along with that, the sale of those new properties would create tax revenue for the state, more money circulating in and around Puerto Plata, etc. Towers don?t create much more traffic given that most areas in Puerto Plata are easily reached by walking and there is plenty of public transport available. Such projects would increase the property values in the city. As the stock of high-rise apartments increase (apartments that would house middle class peoples and some high class from around the world), that would create demand for more stores, restaurants, nightclubs, shopping centers, art galleries, theaters, gyms, large urban parks, more maids, more chaffers, etc. The point is that a few high rise projects in Puerto Plata would be a blessing to the city?s economy. If small town is what people want, then they should move to Sosua or Cabarete, but Puerto Plata should take advantage of its opportunity into becoming an even stronger economic player in the northern part of the country. These developments won?t have any impact on tourism since: (A) over 90% of ?Puerto Plata?s? tourist never see the city as of now, (B) the views from Playa Dorada, Cofresi, Costambar, and Sosua beaches would not be altered by much, if at all, (C) the presence of these towers attracting wealthier people into the city would put pressure to the city government in investing in the local infrastructure by beautifying the city?s streets, parks, and neighborhoods making Puerto Plata even more appealing to tourists and locals alike.
Of course, Puerto Plata is not the only city in the country that can rekindle a much needed revitalization of this magnitude. Other prime Dominican urban centers that would benefit include: 1) San Pedro de Macoris 2) Santiago 3) La Romana 4) Barahona. The more middle class people those cities accumulate, the more expansion their respective economies will receive. The more those cities grow, the better economy of scale develops allowing for higher productivity, higher wages, higher standards of living, and a faster trickle down effect of prosperity into the countryside as well. The economic benefits are mind boggling, the creation of job will be excellent, the increase productivity will further help the overall economy and the image of the country will be even more appealing as the country will be seen as a great place not just to play, but also to live. Let those baby boomers come down with their relatively fat pockets. There are more than enough to help fund the ailing electricity sector and fix the problem once and for all and plenty of other social ills.
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