The City Government of the National District (ADN), now under Mayor David Collado after 12 years of the city government of former Mayor Roberto Salcedo, has made available online a draft of the National District Land Use Plan for public discussion. The city government is asking for comments from the general public. The ADN explains the city so far does not have a land use plan, only partial regulations for 45% of the territory, that also require revisions and updates.
Architect Amin Abel Santos, director of Urban Planning of the National District Municipality (ADN), presented the POT Capital, the land use plan carried out by the ADN with the collaboration of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and ICMA, the world’s leading association of professional city and county managers who serve local governments. The plan proposes guidelines for improved citizen safety and the creation of a more livable urban environment.
Speaking at the event, Mayor David Collado called for building a new Santo Domingo that is sustainable and resilient. During the event, Mayor Collado said: “We are counting on the backing of all our inhabitants and I say that together we can build a new Santo Domingo.”
Also attending was chargé d’affaires of the US Embassy, Robert Copley. He spoke of the exchange of experiences of the city government of Austin, Texas with the Santo Domingo authorities for the studies on vulnerability, land use and processes for citizen consulting.
The POT Capital study on the National District reveals that around 1 million persons (965,040 people) live in the 91 square kilometers of the capital city of the Dominican Republic, also known as Santo Domingo de Guzmán.
Nevertheless, an estimated 400,000 vehicles enter the city bringing one million more people who come to work, study, or for other activities every day. Most of these commuters reside in the Greater Santo Domingo (adding Province of Santo Domingo and Bajos de Haina), for an overall urban area of around 300 square kilometers and population of 3.5 million.
The National District is home to 12.72% of the total commercial establishments in the country, most located in the southern Circumscription 1. In financial aspects, the National District consolidates 56.4% of bank deposits nationwide.
The National District boundaries are the Isabela River to the North, the Caribbean Sea to the South, the Ozama River to the East and the municipalities of Santo Domingo West and Los Alcarrizos to the West.
The Circumscription No. 1 is to the south with 39.36 Km² and 38 barrios; Circumscription No. 2 to the northeast with 39.35 Km² and 18 barrios, and Circumscription No. 3, with 13.29 Km² and 14 barrios. Of the 70 barrios, 15 concentrate almost 70% of the total population of the city. The average population density is 10,537.67 inhabitants/km².
The POT Capital land use plan draft carried out by the National District Municipality (ADN) reveals that of the 965,040 inhabitants, 413,429 live in precarious dwellings. The average age is 31 years, and 85% of the population is under 50 years old, according to the 2010 Census.
The study reveals there is 16.5 km of coastal line bordering with the Caribbean Sea and 17 access points to the city, including five that feed the main highways of the country. The plan explains that the high connectivity of the city is also one of the reason or its traffic congestion, noting that thousands of vehicles are passing through the city when headed for places outside of the central metropolitan area.
The city’s highest concentration of residents is in Circumscription No. 3 (eastern Santo Domingo) with a density of 27,132.58 hab/km². Northeastern Santo Domingo also has the lowest income per capita, with 43.66% of its residents living below the poverty line. Circumscription No. 1 (southern Santo Domingo), the wealthiest area, has 7,887.70 inhabitants/km² and only 7.56% of households live below the poverty line. Circumscription 2 (northern Santo Domingo) has 7,471.70 inhabitants/km² with pockets of poverty that account for 27.49% of households.
The study reveals that the National District is the economically best off area of the country. The poverty records show a total of 272,669 inhabitants living in poverty (28.3%) and 44,076 in extreme poverty (4.57%).
The National District is 82.72% urbanized (75.76Km², with 331,108 dwellings).
The study also refers to two polygonal areas with residential and commercial mixed use and special characteristics:
Colonial City (Ciudad Colonial) with an area of 1.22 km², a population of 8,477 inhabitants or 6,948.36 inhabitants/km²
Central Polygon (Polígono Central) with an area of 4.34 km² and four barrios — Paraíso, Piantini, La Esperilla and Ensanche Naco, 32,251 inhabitants for a density of 5,728.41 inhabitants/km²
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ADN
16 October 2017
