In an interview with El Caribe newspaper, Spaniard Alfonso Vegara, president of the International Society of City and Regional Planners, proposed new alternatives for the urban renewal of Santo Domingo and joined the bandwagon of those saying that the city is at a crossroads. The city’s future has been in headlines after President Fernandez gave former Minister of Public Works Diandino Pena the green light to explore the option of a metro for Santo Domingo. Pena was behind the installation of major overpasses on several city avenues, turning former shopping areas into expressways. Recently fellow Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill went public with his endorsement of Ciudamar, a project to build a commercial, tourist and residential islet in front of Santo Domingo’s Malecon seafront avenue.
Vegara comments in the interview that Santo Domingo has the potential to become an organized and sustainable city, living off tourism, and that it could also be the center of commercial operations in the Caribbean. He favors the construction of an islet, but suggests that this be built at the mouth of the Ozama River. He says that the Ciudamar option would place a “mask on the Malecon.” His proposal is for the artificial island to instead create a peninsula, complete with a marina and cruiseship terminal at Sans Souci site.
Vegara studied the city of Santo Domingo as part of ‘Proyecto Cities’ in which urban planners from around the world gathered to focus on some 20 cities located in five continents. Vegara has explained that ‘Proyecto Cities’ shows sensitivity and responsibility towards the environment, that cities are capable of creating competitive advantages, should be committed to social cohesion and development and should have effective structures for governance.
In Vegara’s opinion, if rescued, Santo Domingo’s Malecon could be the most beautiful in the world. He says there is a need for public transport to reduce the number of vehicles that circulate there and restore the boulevard to its former glory as a sea-front promenade.
Vegara considers that Santo Domingo’s location is extraordinary and that the city has first-rate cultural facilities. He called it the gateway to the Caribbean and that if these conditions are exploited adequately, the city could become a point of reference.
Vegara called the colonial city “a jewel” and said that it should be developed at the same time as the Malecon and Sans Souci projects.
In 2000, Vegara identified ten projects aimed at making the city more functional. He said that private sector sponsors have been identified for most of these initiatives, and that money would not be a problem.
“The difference between any city and cities of excellence is that cities of excellence have a clear vision of the future”, said Vegara. “When an international company is moving, they do not look at the country but at the city because of the number of skilled people in cities, housing, infrastructure, education and technology”, Dr. Vegara has said, motivating the need for competitively planned cities.
See http://www.fundacion-metropoli.org/