Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Residents Put Brakes on Real Estate Boom

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

BUENOS AIRES, Jul 7 2007 (IPS) - The residents of the Argentine capital who want to see a halt to the uncontrolled construction have scored a victory in stopping work on about a hundred buildings. The Buenos Aires city government admitted that construction permits for 134 buildings are on hold until the company Aysa, which provides water and sanitation, can ensure that there will be no shortages as a result of the increased demand.

“We are pleased that they have confirmed our denunciations, but this won't be resolved only by investing in infrastructure, but also with planning so that growth isn't concentrated in just a few neighborhoods,” Gustavo Desplats, of the resident organization Proto Comuna Caballito, told Tierramérica.

For more than a year, the residents have turned to the courts to complain that the real estate boom is threatening to leave entire neighborhoods without enough water or with collapsed sewer systems.