Costa Rica has for long been a global environmental leader, implementing policies which have helped the country build its green reputation through pioneering programmes to promote forest and biodiversity conservation and reverse deforestation. One such pioneering programme is the award-winning Sweet City programme in the municipality of Curridabat, which since 2015 has taken a regenerative approach to its urban planning. Located within the Greater Metropolitan Area of central Costa Rica, with a population of approximately 70,000 people, Curridabat’s experience highlights the role that cities can play in unleashing the potential of regenerative design.
Curridabat’s Ciudad Dulce (Sweet City) initiative started around 2012/2013 when Mayor Edgar Mora began to ask his employees on a daily basis: “Who have you made happy today?” and “What made them happy?”. It was the starting point for a shift in perspective on what the role of government is and the development of a new vision for what progress in the municipality means. The new vision for Curridabat was created in a participatory way and a wide range of pilots were carried out to experiment with new ways of working. One of these pilots was Hola Mariola (‘Hello Bee’) which formed the foundation for what became the Sweet City programme and way of working.
References:
[1] WEAll (2021). Failure demand: Counting the true cost of an unjust and unsustainable economic system, https://weall.org/wp-content/uploads/FailureDemand_FinalReport_September2021-1.pdf
[2] Johnson, L. (2020). Auditor general says Alberta's hazard assessment system needs improvements as number and cost of disasters rise. Edmonton Journal, 29 Sept 2020, https://edmontonjournal.com/news/politics/auditor-general-says-albertas-hazard-assessment-system-needs-improvements-as-number-and-cost-of-disasters-rise