Curitiba, Brazil . – The mayors of Santiago de los Caballeros, Ulises Rodríguez, and Curitiba in Brazil, Eduardo Pimentel, agreed to establish a permanent cooperation agenda to strengthen the development of a smart municipality, through the exchange of experiences, technical assistance, and best practices in urban planning, mobility, environmental sustainability, innovation, and public management.
The agreement was reached during a working meeting held at the Curitiba Municipal Palace, where both executives agreed on the importance of strengthening cooperation between local governments to respond to the challenges faced by cities regarding urban growth, climate change, innovation, and the quality of public services.
As part of the commitments made, Mayor Eduardo Pimentel accepted the invitation extended by Ulises Rodríguez to visit the Dominican Republic and continue the cooperation agenda initiated in Curitiba, with the purpose of learning firsthand about the transformations being driven in Santiago and continuing to strengthen institutional ties between both cities.
Likewise, the Brazilian executive made Curitiba’s technical capabilities available to the Santiago Mayor’s Office and authorized the various municipal departments to share methodologies, information, and best practices with the technical teams of the Santiago city council, in order to promote joint projects and collaborate on all those areas that contribute to the strengthening of municipal management.
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The cooperation will cover strategic areas such as territorial planning, urban mobility, integrated transport, public innovation, digital transformation, environmental sustainability, public space management, resilience to climate change, and economic development, in addition to other topics that both administrations identify as priorities to improve the quality of life of their citizens.
During the meeting, Mayor Eduardo Pimentel highlighted that dialogue between cities constitutes a fundamental tool for sharing solutions that contribute to the well-being of the population.
“Dialogue between cities is an important tool for sharing solutions that improve people’s quality of life. Curitiba has a recognized track record in urban planning, sustainability, and innovation, and is always open to the exchange of experiences and the development of international partnerships that generate benefits for both cities,” he/she expressed.
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For his part, Ulises Rodríguez valued the openness shown by the Curitiba administration and stated that this alliance represents an important step within the institutional modernization process promoted by the Mayor’s Office of Santiago.
“Curitiba is an international benchmark in urban planning and public management. We are here to learn firsthand about successful experiences that can strengthen the development of Santiago and, at the same time, consolidate a lasting cooperative relationship between our cities,” stated the Dominican mayor.
One of the central themes of the meeting was the need for cities to strengthen their response capacity to the effects of climate change. In that context, Eduardo Pimentel, who also serves as Vice President for Latin America of the C40 Cities network, invited Ulises Rodríguez to participate in future meetings of this international organization, which brings together some of the world’s leading cities committed to climate action and sustainable urban development. The invitation opens an opportunity to project Santiago onto global stages of cooperation and public policy exchange.
The mayor of Santiago explained that the heart city is a powerful tourist and investment destination, which is why he is working to continue promoting a municipal management open to international cooperation, convinced that the exchange of knowledge between cities constitutes a key tool to build a more orderly, connected, resilient, competitive Santiago, prepared for the challenges of the future.
