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Population, territory and sustainable development

The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of current trends, contexts and issues in the spheres of population, territory and sustainable development and examine their public policy implications. Three themes run through the report. The first two are laid out in the empirical chapters (III through X); the third is taken up in the closing chapter. Using the most recent data available (including censuses conducted in the 2010s), the first theme describes and tracks location and spatial mobility patterns for the population of Latin America, focusing on certain kinds of territory. The second explores the linkages between these patterns and sustainable development in different kinds of territory in Latin America and the Caribbean. The third offers considerations and policy proposals for fostering a consistent, synergistic relationship between population location and spatial mobility, on the one hand, and sustainable development, on the other, in the kinds of territory studied.

The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of current trends, contexts and issues in the spheres of population, territory and sustainable development and examine their public policy implications. Three themes run through the report. The first two are laid out in the empirical chapters (III through X); the third is taken up in the closing chapter. Using the most recent data available (including censuses conducted in the 2010s), the first theme describes and tracks location and spatial mobility patterns for the population of Latin America, focusing on certain kinds of territory. The second explores the linkages between these patterns and sustainable development in different kinds of territory in Latin America and the Caribbean. The third offers considerations and policy proposals for fostering a consistent, synergistic relationship between population location and spatial mobility, on the one hand, and sustainable development, on the other, in the kinds of territory studied.

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frequently do not have the budget to manage them. Several countries have allocated resources to<br />

participatory projects in which community residents themselves have created parks, plazas, gymnasiums<br />

or sports centres. But data from the Latinobarómetro survey on the degree of public satisfaction with the<br />

availability of green areas <strong>and</strong> public spaces show that 44% of the population of the region is not satisfied<br />

in this regard. In some countries, the share is higher than the regional average: over half the population of<br />

the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru <strong>and</strong> the Plurinational State of<br />

Bolivia is not satisfied with the availability of green areas <strong>and</strong> public spaces in their countries, while<br />

Paraguay <strong>and</strong> Uruguay have the lowest percentage of dissatisfaction (see figure VIII.5).<br />

Figure VIII.5<br />

LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN (18 COUNTRIES): LEVEL OF SATISFACTION<br />

WITH THE AVAILABILITY OF GREEN AREAS AND PUBLIC SPACES, 2009<br />

100<br />

90<br />

80<br />

70<br />

60<br />

50<br />

40<br />

30<br />

20<br />

10<br />

0<br />

Argentina<br />

Bolivia<br />

(Plur. State of)<br />

Brazil<br />

Chile<br />

Colombia<br />

Costa Rica<br />

Ecuador<br />

El Salvador<br />

Guatemala<br />

Honduras<br />

Mexico<br />

Nicaragua<br />

Panama<br />

Paraguay<br />

Peru<br />

Dominican Rep.<br />

Uruguay<br />

Venezuela<br />

(Bol. Rep. of)<br />

Very satisfied Somewhat satisfied Somewhat dissatisfied Not at all satisfied<br />

Source: Online processing of the 2009 Latinobarómetro survey (www.latinobarometro.org/latino/latinobarometro.jsp).<br />

Carrión (2003) argues that public spaces are losing ground to new modalities of urban<br />

<strong>development</strong>. He suggests that public spaces are being rejected or disparaged <strong>and</strong> that in many cases<br />

residents consider them to be dangerous because they neither protect nor are protected. The lack of public<br />

spaces represents a loss of possibilities for social construction <strong>and</strong> cohesion in cities <strong>and</strong> neighbourhoods,<br />

because it “reduces participation, limits the exercise of citizenship <strong>and</strong> removes the incentives for<br />

practicing tolerance” (Carrión, 2003).<br />

The problems or deficiencies in the region’s urban areas in terms of the coverage of basic<br />

services, health care, education, infrastructure, transport <strong>and</strong> public spaces is associated, in part, with the<br />

financial difficulties faced by national <strong>and</strong> local governments <strong>and</strong> with the modalities for providing urban<br />

services (public, private or mixed). As the State has acquired new functions its financial capacity has been<br />

reduced, but the dem<strong>and</strong>s <strong>and</strong> expectations of citizens have increased.

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