"These regulations will promote the development of projects with smaller apartments and more units, thus creating a more functional and decentralized city, bringing basic services closer to citizens, which would increase their productivity, innovation and socio-economic development.".
SANTO DOMINGO - Restrictive regulations that create large apartments, divorced from the reality of the market and the purchasing power of many families, have limited access to housing in the National District.
This situation has led to traffic problems and the displacement of younger generations to the outskirts of the city. Therefore, the Dominican Association of Housing Builders and Developers (ACOPROVI) is requesting new regulations and updates to existing ones for all districts of the National District to guarantee the legal security of new real estate developments, which aim to address the housing shortage and protect the Dominican people's right to decent housing.
In a press release, the association asserts that new development zones aligned with the territorial planning plan of the National District are needed to guarantee a more compact, sustainable, and adaptable city.
"This would make it easier for new generations and young couples who want to live within the District to acquire housing. These regulations will encourage the development of projects with smaller apartments and more units, creating a more functional and decentralized city, bringing basic services closer to citizens, which would increase their productivity, innovation, and socioeconomic development," the Association maintains.
He adds that the changes would result in better management of road traffic, "the great pain of the capital's residents.".
ACOPROVI refers to the trend in other countries and cites the case of Chile, which has residential complexes with access to education, health, supermarkets and leisure, without the need to move to other urbanizations, initiatives that have generated the optimization of urban spaces in Latin American countries, creating new jobs, the emergence of small entrepreneurs and a strategic management of sustainability, and green areas as a center of recreation and socialization of the urbanizations, characteristics that prevail in a sustainable city.
“As an association, we look after the well-being of the housing sector and protect the dream of more Dominicans, which is access to their own home. Therefore, we understand that the implementation of new regulations and the updating of current ones will bring great benefits to the housing sector in the district,” noted Jorge Montalvo, president of ACOPROVI.
The statement emphasizes that young people today face limitations in acquiring housing outside the city, so the entity understands that having regulations that promote adaptability will pave the way for greater use of spaces for projects, thus ensuring an enrichment of public spaces, aligned with the current needs of the residents of the National District, which will guarantee a model city for the Caribbean, and reduce the relocation of new generations far from the place where they were born.
The construction industry argues that to address the current problems in the sector, public-private synergy and the participation of all sectors in the dissemination of these new regulations are vital, as has been promoted so far by the Mayor's Office, with a view to safeguarding the healthy development of the city of Santo Domingo.
"Therefore, the commitment and involvement of the housing construction sector and other stakeholders—together with the National District Mayor's Office—can generate new opportunities that improve the current situation for acquiring a home. Promoting a more sustainable society is everyone's responsibility," ACOPROVI points out.
