The Inter-American Development Bank has approved a $100 million loan for Brazil that will help boost living standards in the Vitória municipality by easing inequality in urban development, integrating the Orla Noroeste district into the rest of the city.
The total cost of the operation will be $125 million, of which the IDB will provide 80%. The rest will be financed locally. The main goals of the initiative are (i) to promote improvement in the urban landscape by integrating the ON district through complementary action to encourage smart urban management and resistance to climate change, with a focus on mitigation and adaptation (ii) reduce violent crime among youth and strengthen the Urban Guard so as to head off and control this problem. Both components of the plan will be carried out over a period of five years.
The project will focus on the 10 neediest neighborhoods of Orla Noroeste. It aims to achieve concrete results such as an increase in average property values in the districts being targeted; an expansion of green areas; stabilization of areas that are at geological risk; a strengthening of government agencies; a reduction of the homicide rate for both males and females aged 15 to 24 years; and a drop in theft in those five districts.
Vitória has experienced runaway urbanization that has affected the quality of basic public services and harmed environmentally sensitive areas. It is one of the Brazilian cities that has seen the greatest urban growth, and features the country’s second largest urban mangrove swamp, after Recife.
With this project the government will continue its efforts to provide improved infrastructure and basic services to low-income families and reduce the city’s environmental vulnerability and levels of violence and crime.
The IDB financing will be over 25 years, with a 5.5 year grace period and an interest rate pegged to the Libor.
Original source: IDB
Published on 4 October 2018
