19.03.2012
A Foundation completed a first Toolbox workshop in El Salvador in collaboration with XCOOP and Urban Matters from the Netherlands.
El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America and the most densely populated. Sixty percent of the population lives in cities, twenty-seven percent lives in San Salvador. Slums have grown fast in this urban context, with people migrating from the countryside looking for work. Many others came to the city when they fled the civil war, earthquakes and hurricanes. Although the economy of El Salvador has been growing at an annual rate of nearly five percent before the global economic crisis starting in 2008, thirty-eight percent of the families live in absolute poverty.
The workshop was designed to capacitate local entities for an integral approach towards a sustainable urban development. Social, environmental and economic concerns as well as questions regarding construction were considered. Besides general aspects such as urban infrastructure, housing and commerce, a specific case study site has been analyzed for future development in collaboration with the Municipality of Soyapango as well as the national Vice Ministry for Housing and Urban Development. A multifunctional project in the impoverished area of El Bosque will offer commerce, an extensive social program, high quality public spaces as well as housing for 200 families that presently live in high-risk zones vulnerable to flooding and mudslides.
A full description of the activities in El Salvador can be found on the Urban Matters blog. Further workshops are planned in Port au Prince, Haiti; Cape Town, South Africa; and Kisumu, Kenya.