The Latin American and Caribbean region (LAC) is the second most urbanized on the planet. It has gone from a 64% urbanization rate in 1980 to 79% in 2010. If this growth trend continues throughout the region, approximately 87% of the region’s population will be living in cities within the next few decades. Although large cities in LAC continue to grow, many intermediate cities with populations of 100,000 to 2 million people now have higher rates of population and economic growth. These are what we call “emerging cities”. This rapid pace of urbanization creates daunting challenges for municipalities and impacts their ability to effectively manage their citizens’ quality of life.
Join The Adam Smith Society, the Emerging Markets Association, the Latin American Business Association and Social Enterprise Association for a talk with Ellis J. Juan, General Coordinator of The Emerging and Sustainable Cities Initiative (ESCI) at the InterAmerican Bank of Development, about the ESCI program. This is a technical assistance program that helps intermediate cities in Latin America and the Caribbean in identifying prioritizing and structuring projects to improve their environmental, urban and fiscal sustainability.
The Initiative integrates environmental sustainability, comprehensive urban development, fiscal sustainability and good governance, and provides emerging cities with a set of tools to:

1. Identify key bottlenecks that they may face in their path towards sustainability.

2. Weigh and prioritize the identified problems to guide investment decisions in the sectors that may generate more positive impacts.

3. Find specific and adequate solutions according to a cost-benefit analysis that would pave the road towards increasing sustainability through prioritized interventions. In addition, solutions should take into consideration potential different local sources to finance them as well as the institutional capacity for their implementation.