From the second half of the 20th century, Guatemala City has grown up and especially, messy. This is observed in a contrasting urban landscape where, on the one hand, informal settlements, located on the slopes of Barrancos, proliferate in the other side, in the millionaire real estate investment of vertical construction in apartment buildings, exposes the researcher María del Carmen Muñoz in the vertical construction study in the municipality of Guatemala: densification versus dispersion, of the center of urban studies and regional studies (CEUR) of the University of San Carlos de Guatemala (USAC).
In the last decade, buildings advance in response to a real estate market where 61 percent of the demand seeks housing solutions that allow them to live or return to the heart of Guatemala City, against 37% of housing offers, according to studies of the Construction Chamber (CGC) of 2024.
Growth
In the last four years, the construction industry has raised 235 buildings for multifamily housing in Guatemala City. Only in 2021 were 68, according to the CGC.
For its part, the Capital Municipality, in the same period -until October 2024, has authorized a total of 4,067 construction licenses (of all kinds), according to the Information Access Unit (UDI).
Income from construction licenses (of all kinds) show this increase in their coffers. In 2021, they were Q221.8 million. In 2024 they amounted to Q 286.4. millions, according to the Portal of Local Governments of the Ministry of Finance.
The second income that reflects a noticeable increase is the Single Tax on Properties (IUSI) which went from being of Q618.1 million in 2021, at the figure of Q 742.6 million in 2024.
It is the municipality with the highest income in the country. Contrast with the communes of Soloma and San Gaspar Ixil, Huehuetenango, who did not even report Iusi, or perhaps Santa Eulalia, in the same department, which reported Q17 thousand 043.86 in 2024, according to the local governments portal of the Ministry of Finance.
Densification versus dispersion
The researcher Muñoz of the CEUR argues that municipal policies favor densification, however, reality points out rather towards the continuity of a dispersed city dynamic. This is supported by three specific problems, for the most populous municipality in the country, with 1.2 million inhabitants.
- Without the proper investment and renewal of the infrastructure of the urbanized land, it will be unable to withstand the growing demand for services of the new populations.
- When the existing infrastructure is overload, due to the high demand for services, the municipal administration must direct its investments to the same areas, to the detriment of the segregated areas, which will lead to inequality and social gaps.
- There must be a substantial change in land use regulations to stop real estate speculation. Real mechanism for surplus value that force a greater involvement of private capital in public works and social housing production must be established.
Political decisions, not technical
The architect Max Alejandro García, former Vice Minister of Communications and who worked in urban planning in the capital municipality, questions how the amount of authorized construction licenses is combined, with the territorial planning plans (POT).
This was the first commune to have such a plan in the country, and that established a densification policy. That is, a more compact city, with vertical, and less horizontal growth, where access to public services and investment is improved. This logic is well raised in European cities, where most of these have densities from 3 to 4 levels, or more. “It is not the same as a pipeline attends 50 houses in the same land space, to which it is distributed in several linear meters,” he explains.
However, Guatemala City is too expensive because the owners of the properties are very few. Therefore, access to a property is not in relation to the average income of most families, which do not have the purchasing capacity for the type of housing that is built. “It is very easy to see that many of these buildings are not inhabited, because they are second or third property, or for the scourge of drug trafficking,” he explains.
This has caused most people to buy where the budget reaches them. This is on the periphery, or neighboring municipalities, from where they move daily to the capital. This has created a second problem: traffic, where there are no options, more and more car cars enter.
Garcia laments that most urban colleagues who exercise in public positions prevail the political will, before technical decisions.
Muni: Growth is ordered
According to the capital of the capital, since 2021 to date, more than 170 new projects (vertical housing) have been authorized, which contribute to the country’s economic development an approximate of 3.4 million square meters of construction. This represents an estimated investment of Q14 billion and 275 thousand jobs.
The areas that show the highest growth are: 10, 12, 14, 15 and 16, which represent more than 80% of the total new projects, creating a wide range of more than 20 thousand housing units. A tendency to expansion to zones 2, 4, 5, 11 and 12 has also been observed.
“It is recognized that within the great challenges that the city presents is the supply of water, mobility and transit. That is why we work with great projects such as the urban sustainable drainage system (SUDS) that contribute to water recharge, high tanks and mobility systems such as Tubus and the Aerometer Project. “One of the strategies has been to guide urban growth based on POT, in force since 2009,” said the capital of the capital.
As for whom they evaluate a work and use project, by the government there are eight institutions. On the part of the capital municipality are seven directions: Territorial Control, Pagua, Works, Cadastre, Historic Center (according to location), Environment and Urban Mobility.