Set aside Panama's economic
apartheid for a moment and take another peek at the project model shown
above. The one small street that serves the expensive luxury
residential towers built or under construction on Punta Pacifica can
already be a traffic pain, and when those buildings fill up (which
might take some time) there will be at least twice-a-day gridlock on
that street. And now the plan is to extend it to a $300 million
residential project on a landfill beyond those buildings. But the
impulsive President Martinelli has thrown his weight behind it
regardless of the fairly obvious urban planning flaw. There are sure to
be some upscale Punta Pacifica residents who will be displeased, so it
will not be accurate to pigeonhole all objections as incidents of class
warfare.
Describing the project, which is promoted by the Grupo Los Pueblos
developers and is to be built by the Mexican ICA construction company,
as "visionary," the president said that it will "project confidence so
that other investors will continue to carry out works that maintain
Panama's position as a nation with First World infrastructure." At the
inauguration ceremony, the promoters emphasized proximity to upscale
restaurants, nightclubs and shopping malls.
The project has been discussed
since 1997, and although there have been permit processes and alleged
opportunities for public comment, the urban policy implications for
this
development have never been specifically and intelligently addressed by
any elected officials, nor have they been the subject of any well
publicized and well attended hearing.
There is, however, a growing movement of urban policy reformers, and
one of the most prominent leaders is architect Raisa Banfield. She is
not enthusiastic about Ocean Reef Islands. "It's cause for concern,"
she said. "The construction of these islands has serious environmental,
urban planning and constitutional implications, above all about the
privatization of the sea floor."
That Martinelli is charging ahead without paying much attention to
these things does not shock Banfield. "The president's attitude is not
surprising, as he has shown on repeated occasions that he does not care
about the environment," she said.
