From Emerging Cities to Sustainable Cities
Since the launch of the emerging and sustainable cities initiative (ESCI) in 2010, IDOM, with the support of our network of offices in Latin American and the Caribbean region (LAC), has been collaborating with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). So far, we have assisted over 30 medium-sized cities considered as emerging. These are cities with a population of between 100,000 and 2 million inhabitants, growing at a much faster rate than mega cities. IDOM has collaborated in many projects, from studies on vulnerability to the impact of climate change, the identification of priority action scenarios, or the development of pilot projects.
Aware of the phenomenon of accelerated growth in emerging cities in LAC, the IDB has launched this initiative. It is in these intermediate cities that there is greater opportunity to correct the existing pattern of development with greater impact, therefore, the IDB is assisting them in shaping a more sustainable future. As of today, more than 70 cities have already participated in the program.
As a continuation of our long history of collaboration, the IDB is again working with IDOM on a systematic revision of the evidence gathered over 7 years of work in the ESCI cities. The work involves carrying out a transversal analysis of some of these cities and the data that determines them. The results of this analysis have been published in a book in Spanish entitled “From Emerging Cities to Sustainable Cities”. (Available for download here).
This publication, which was presented for the first time on the occasion of The United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) held in Quito – Ecuador, sets out to be a guide to orientate the design of future metropolis in the XXI century. The aim is to broaden the discussion and encourage the involvement of regional political, technical and academic stakeholders as well as the civil society to focus on and influence the growth patterns of our cities in a positive and effective way, a turning point.
