Infrastructure And Urban Problems

Infrastructure and urban problems

Introduction

Urbanization in Latin America has produced a gigantic set of urban problems ranging from vast areas occupied illegally, with minimal urban services, to the total contempt of the construction and use of land in wealthy neighborhoods. This state of affairs cannot be attributed exclusively to the broader macroeconomic factors, but also to the way the provision of services and infrastructure is financed.

Developing

The procedures that apply in the management of land uses, and the way property rights are determined. The rapid urbanization that occurred during the last century led to the emergence of a strong land market and the resulting profits reinforced the interests of real estate property. In situations where human and fiscal resources are relatively scarce.

The provision of infrastructure and urban services in the areas that can withstand high densities, generates significant increases in the value of the land. These links between services and prices allow a great space for the realization of practices such as real estate speculation, clientelism, and other types of influences between public and private interests (Jaramillo González). 

Bets are high when it comes to increases in the value of the land resulting from public interventions. The so -called urban multiplier – the relationship between the price per square meter of the urban land with its previous value of rural use – is generally above 4: 1.

The recovery of surplus value then refers to the recovery, by the State, of the increases in the value of the land, generated by actions other than the direct investment of the owner. 

The objective is to be based on the increases in land value generated by public interventions, to allow local administrations to improve the performance of territorial management and produce funds to provide urban services and infrastructure. The foundation is that the benefits granted by authorities to land owners should be shared more precisely with all users of the same. 

conclusion

The principle that no citizen can accumulate wealth that does not result from their own effort, known as "enrichment without just cause", is common in most Latin American Constitutions. The heterogeneity of urban policy instruments, review the infrastructure investment policy and the distribution and financing mechanisms that are generally not redistributive;The poor are taken to finance the richest neighborhoods.