Dominican urban sprawl; from 56.7% to 81.7% in 28 years

Santo Domingo.- In the last 28 years, the country’s urbanization process grew from 56.7% to 81.7%, reaching the average for Latin America and the Caribbean and, in the opinion of experts, it will continue to increase, which constitutes an opportunity for the country to regulate this growth and improve the quality of life and habitat of the people.

This is stated in the study: “Enabling the way for the development of prosperous cities and territories in the Dominican Republic” carried out by specialists from the World Bank, the European Union and the Ministry of Economy and had the purpose of contributing to face the challenges respect to the territories and land use policies.

It highlights that urban areas are growing in an unplanned and disorganized way, with little connectivity, increasing the risk of floods and greater impact from natural events.

It indicates that a large part of Dominicans lack adequate housing and more than a third of the population lives in homes considered vulnerable.