The
Minister of Housing and Urbanism, Jaime Ravinet,
just announced an ambitiuos plan to recuperate the
Metropolitan Central "Ring" -almost 4,000
acres of Santiago´s heart, some of them abandoned
or damaged. "We want to have again the old
metropolitan downtown", Ravinet explained.
The project will start in July 2002, with a master
plan that will recuperate all the land that once
belonged to industrial rail services. It is the
area located between the Zanjón de la Aguada
and the Mapocho River, the old rail ring that used
to surround Santiago. The initiative was elaborated
by several town planners and architects and includes
the building of new roads, parks, public buildings
and strolls.
According to the Minister, the budget for the whole
project will be of around US$664 millions, a 23
per cent of which will be State funded, while all
the rest will come from the private sector. The
plan will look for ways to use land that is now
left behind, and establish new urban-activity centers,
be it transportation, sales or housing. In the long
term the transformation will help to reduce the
time now spent on moving inside the city as well
as pollution levels. The new neighborhoods will
contribute to Santiago´s renewal.
As a result of this plan, Santiago´s center
should get bigger, increasing the population density
while taking advantage of the now existing infrastructure,
so the oldest and most damaged areas don´t
get lost.
"The metropolitan central ring´s revitalization
looks for a way to transform City´s construction
in a key factor for the improvement of our life
quality level and the creation of new opportunities
for social and economical development. President
Lagos has proposed that the Bicentennial brings
radical changes in urban spaces, capable of re-charming
our society and satisfy people´s needs",
explained Minister Ravinet. After the studies and
planning during this year and the bid during 2003,
work should begin in 2004 to be ready during the
Bicentennial year, 2010.
In other regions
In the same Bicentennial program, similar works
are planned on other Chilean cities. Antofogasta
is already working on its coastal area, integrating
it to the city´s downtown. Renewal works are
also being done at Plaza Sotomayor.
In Concepción, the goal is to recuperate
Biobio´s river border and work on several
bridges. "Now there´s a new housing project
being done at the coastal border and more than a
thousand houses have already been built and a new
park being developed", said Ravinet. "To
this date, there´s been an investment for
more than 25,000 millions of pesos.
The Minister said that similar plans were being
developed for Arica, Iquique, La Serena, Valparaiso
and most of Chile´s biggest cities.
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