Abundance of permits for high rises has turned the National District into a concrete jungle. Santo Domingo East is following closely, with a boom in high rises, too.
The capital city is now a concrete jungle, or a high-density area of large, modern buildings with a perceived lack of greenery or “soul.”
N Digital reports that the National District (DN) continues to dominate the construction landscape in the Greater Santo Domingo area, accounting for a significant 2,859,389.3 square meters of active projects. In total, 6,601,066 square meters are currently under development across Greater Santo Domingo.
According to the second 2025 edition of the Building Supply Registry (ROE) from the National Statistics Office (ONE), this figure represents 43.3% of the total construction activity in the metropolitan region.
Following the DN, Santo Domingo East reports 1,780,977.0 square meters (27%), while Santo Domingo North holds 963,815.3 square meters (14.6%). By comparison, San Antonio de Guerra sits at the bottom of the list with only 46,779.7 square meters, representing a mere 0.7% of the regional activity.
While the building boom signals economic growth, it comes at a steep environmental cost. The replacement of natural soil, trees, wetlands, and ravines with cement and asphalt has significantly reduced green spaces. This rapid urbanization creates a “heat island” effect and severely limits water absorption, the N Digital report emphasizes. Consequently, uncontrolled runoff leads to frequent flooding, urban chaos, and substantial material losses during heavy rainfall events.
Greater Santo Domingo leads highly dense sectors
At the neighborhood level, Los Guaricanos leads the top 20 sectors with 668,331 square meters of active construction (10.1% of the total). This sector has maintained its top ranking since the previous report, when it registered 632,781 square meters. Other high-growth areas include: Piantini with 479,865 square meters and Naco with 412,545 square meters.
Conversely, Sabana Perdida and Renacimiento show the least activity, with 83,569 and 81,928 square meters, respectively. Of the 6,981 total projects identified in the urban metropolitan zone, 81.1% are ongoing developments, while 18.9% are new builds, highlighting a trend of project continuity rather than a sudden surge of fresh starts.
Demographic pressure and overcrowding
The construction surge is exacerbating overcrowding in an already dense region. The National District, covering just 91 square kilometers, houses over one million residents. This results in a density of approximately 11,000 people per square kilometer — the highest in the country.
As reported, this pressure is compounded by the concentration of central government public institutions in the DN, which draws a constant influx of citizens seeking services from across the nation.
Population and density metrics across the Santo Domingo province include:
• Santo Domingo East: 1,029,117 inhabitants (6,219 per km2)
• Santo Domingo West: 410,578 inhabitants (7,538 per km2)
• Los Alcarrizos: 336,307 inhabitants (7,464 per km2)
• Santo Domingo North: 674,274 inhabitants (1,737 km2)
• Pedro Brand: 92,973 inhabitants (417 per km2)
The architectural shift is most visible in the National District and Santo Domingo East. Sites that once featured single-family homes with lush gardens and large trees have been transformed into high-rise apartment towers and administrative office blocks, fundamentally altering the city’s skyline and residential character.
Read more in Spanish:
N Digital
30 April 2026