Dwellings in very vulnerable areas near rivers and gullies were seriously affected when these flooded on Friday, 4 November 2022. On that day, densely-populated areas of the National District city collapsed due to extreme heavy rains falling in just three hours.
Ricardo González of the civic society group Ciudad Alternativa says the critical situation that could happen again will only be corrected when the government gets serious about implementing land planning. He said the chaos and disasters brought to the open by the rainstorm just reflect on the great urban disorder with people building homes besides riverbanks, streams gullies and dangerous slopes in cities such as Santo Domingo, Santiago, San Cristóbal and other urban areas.
Ricardo Gonzalez, executive director of CA, states that in the absence of a Law of Territorial Planning, the city councils need real urban planning departments that implement clear regulations.
As there are few regulations or laws, he says, the expansion of cities is not happening in an orderly and planned manner. He explained that more than 70% of the existing houses in the country have been built by families before the services of drinking water, sewage, roads are installed. Once the people take over the area, many times the government will then brings the basic services.
He called for working the other way around. That areas with basic services be made available where people can then build, develop housing and commercial projects.
He said the traffic chaos in Greater Santo Domingo and Santiago is for a lack of a decentralization policy. By decentralizing cities, new areas would be opende up for development once these have been fitted with the basic services.
He said it is urgent that Congress approve the Law of Territorial Ordering and that urban planning departments in city governments be strengthened. He said the town councils need to have the resources to organize themselves and approve the needed regulations.
He advocates that each municipality develop a Master Plan for development in which population growth is established and projections are made for where new developments should happen.
Read more in Spanish:
9 November 2022