Tall buildings sprout over narrow streets, old pipes, no sewage system

Santo Domingo.- A drive over any of the capital’s many overpasses reveals how quickly its skyline has gone from large residential areas with just one or two story houses, to a metropolis with nowhere to grow but up.

But while the National District’s growth and development is evident with the huge buildings built in recent years, the seemingly endless traffic jams and unpredictable water supply and trash pickup also reveals a collapse of services.

National District City Planning Office figures compiled by listin.com.do show that 459 permits for new buildings or remodeling for over two floors were issued from 2010 to 2011.

Of this total 65% were for buildings of four stories and some even higher than 14 floors, in the sectors El Million (25), Naco (17), Piantini (16), and Gazcue (9), just in the past two years, during which the change has led to urban sprawl and even dangerous morass.