Viability of the Implementation of Urban Renewal Strategies in Costa Rica

Abstract

In Costa Rica, in recent years, efforts have been made to develop urban regulations to facilitate intervention within existing cities, with the aim of revitalizing urban centers and attracting the population that for a number of reasons has renounced living in the city. Urban renewal strategies have played an important role in the socio-spatial transformations that have been experienced in those cities around the world which incorporate creative tools to intervene within the built environment and contemplate a series of instruments that allow to correct the negative tendencies generated by the model of dispersed city and at the same time return the functionality and appeal to¡ strategic sectors in order to build a new model of a more sustainable and inclusive city.

The purpose of this article is to analyze the possibilities that exist, based on existing urban legislation in the country, to implement strategies of urban renewal. In order to test this assumption, the current legislation is analyzed, evidencing the degree to which it empowers municipalities to exercise its prerogatives in urban planning and the organization of their territory. Particular emphasis is given to the feasibility of developing and implementing urban renewal strategies at the local scale, which is based on the Ley de Planificación Urbana N° 4240 and is strengthened by the most recent advances inthe country in terms of normative update.