QCOSTARICA — Traffic congestion, garbage problems, and other obstacles are no longer only in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM), but present in “intermediate cities”, localities that were called to balance more the access to services in Costa Rica and thus promote development.
These are Ciudad Quesada, Puntarenas, Guápiles, Turrialba, Liberia, Limón and Pérez Zeledón, which have the category of “intermediate cities”. In theory, they should serve as a link between urban and rural areas.
According to the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR), the attention of three axes that the country promotes depends on them. These are:
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- Social inclusion
- Economic growth
- Decarbonization
Their role is also essential in the generation of economies of scale at the local level, for all of which the services that the population can receive in them is key.
The findings
The problem? A recently published measurement by the CGR found deficiencies that take their toll on the localities.
“It was determined that the coverage of basic services in intermediate cities is ineffective as a whole, since there is a tendency to replicate the GAM model.
“Here there are high-density population centers that have better coverage and a decrease in this towards the periphery, therefore, inequalities are presented to a greater or lesser extent,” the text points out.
The absence of wastewater, sanitation and traffic congestion are the problems that are leading the weaknesses in these intermediate cities.
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The magnifying glass on intermediate cities
Among the main findings of the audit of intermediate cities are:
- Wastewater sanitation: it is received partially in four of the seven cities (Liberia, Limón, Pérez Zeledón and Puntarenas). In addition, in the remaining three cities this service is not provided (Ciudad Quesada, Guápiles and Turrialba).
- Mobility: there is high traffic congestion, which saturates the roads of all intermediate cities. The exceptions are Liberia and Puntarenas, where a low and zero level of congestion was identified respectively.
- Drinking water: Ciudad Quesada, Liberia and Limón do not achieve coverage of at least one connection per house, business or building in any sector. In Turrialba, on the other hand, there is not enough information for this service.
- Telecommunications, electricity and waste collection: the panorama in intermediate cities is varied. There are clusters in Ciudad Quesada, Guápiles, Liberia, Limón and Pérez Zeledón with low coverage of 4G mobile internet, however it is up to the operators to decide whether or not to expand its reach. Also, two clusters with low coverage of smart electricity meters were identified in Pérez Zeledón. While in Puntarenas no sector reached the minimum of one of these devices per house, business or building.
Waste collection: there is low coverage in the outskirts of Liberia, Limón and Pérez Zeledón.
Cities or islands?
A call for attention to the attention of intermediate cities arises from the lack of territorial information for decision-making. Coupled with this, better management of local public policies would be expected.
As an example, the lack of harmonization in terms of technological services is given.
“More agile and standardized procedures are required in municipalities to provide effectiveness and efficiency to the deployment of infrastructure for 5G internet. However, there is little harmony between the current municipal regulations” points out the CGR.
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“The above is due to the fact that institutions have managed public services individually, without considering their collective contribution to well-being.
“As well as the diversity and complexity of the context where the interrelations occur, due to the fact that its governance and planning lacks a prospective and harmonized vision based on the future perspective of intermediate cities”, the CGR concludes.
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