GUAYAQUIL URBAN DEVT

closed

The Guayaquil Urban Development Project's dual objectives are (i) to provide improved shelter to 12,700 households and employment to about 5,000 persons, thus benefitting some 100,000 people or 10 percent of Guayaquil's population and (ii) to develop institutional capacity to address urban needs on a larger scale both in Guayaquil and nationwide. Nearly 90 percent of project investment is targeted to help families whose incomes are below Guayaquil's absolute poverty threshold. The project includes three major components: loans and technical assistance to small-scale enterprises, slum upgrading plus sites-and-services development, and loans for housing construction and improvement. Since a multi-sector urban project of this nature has not been implemented before in Ecuador, there is a risk that management problems might occur due to inexperience. However, technical assistance and close supervision have been built into project design to reduce this risk.