“La Barquita” Informal Settlement Upgrading

The La Barquita Area is one of the most vulnerable zones in the metropolitan area of Santo Domingo. It is located in the Los Mina neighbourhood in the basin of the river Ozama and has a population of 7,677. La Barquita is an example of the tensions and imbalance between population density and the informal occupation of large areas threatened by natural disaster and risk, or flooding or landslides.

The new project for the improvement of the La Barquita settlement is financed by the Ministry of the Interior of the Dominican Republic and managed through the Commission for the Enhancement of La Barquita. One of its goals is to be a model project that can be replicated in similar areas in the Dominican territory.

Planned holistically and comprising social, urban and environmental themes, the proposal improves the physical infrastructure and social cohesion of the territory through intervention in areas of potential risk, their environmental recovery and integrations into the urban environment. The recovery of the banks of the river Ozama and the supply of health services and infrastructure will foster the revaluation of the urban space and enable water contamination and waste management issues to be broached.

The work done includes both the urban design and the necessary infrastructure and facilities. The entire urbanisation, infrastructures and buildings required in the zone have been planned, along with 1,800 homes for the relocation of residents. The buildings completed include a church and parish centre, polytechnic school, police station and local multiuse space. Some prototypes have also been planned of stations for the new public river transport system in Santo Domingo.

The work was awarded through a call for proposals carried out in two phases and with the intervention of an international jury.