The Cabildo of Lanzarote presented this Thursday the project 'Arrecife, Capital of the Biosphere', for which this year it has 3 million euros from the Government of the Canary Islands, and has announced that it is studying allocating part of that money to the "acquisition of a large plot of land", specifically the one known as the Molino de Cabo Pedro". This was confirmed by the president, Pedro San Ginés, who states that this land would be used to "execute a large lung and green infrastructure for the capital".
In addition, five months before the end of the year, San Ginés pointed out that with those 3 million euros they also have "the intention of executing several specific actions" included in that project, which arises from an order from the Arrecife City Council and which was presented in 2016 within the Council of the Biosphere Reserve.
The project, which aims to "turn the city of Arrecife into an authentic capital of the Biosphere Reserve", was presented on Thursday morning at the Municipal Archive of Arrecife, in an event attended by the president, Pedro San Ginés, the Minister of Tourism Centers and president of the Water Consortium, Echedey Eugenio, the Councilor for Mobility of the Arrecife City Council, Inodelvia Torres, and the urban planner and technical director of the project, Juan Palop Casado.
"Water Paths" through the city
The president explained that within the actions of this global project for the dynamization and development of the capital, among others, the creation of four 'Water Paths' is proposed that would connect the upper and lower parts of the city on foot. "The layout of these walks coincides with the old rainwater runoff, collected then in maretas and cisterns that could be rehabilitated as part of this new infrastructure and green lung for Arrecife," said Pedro San Ginés.
The proposal presented by Palop also contemplates the use of water deposits that would be generated in these water paths for irrigation of garden areas and that would in turn serve as regulating deposits for eventual storms and rains, "alleviating in this sense the possible floods that occur in some areas and neighborhoods of the capital".
In addition, the project includes "the preliminary project -already drafted- for the execution of the Naos Urban Park", and "other interventions that will be undertaken such as bio-corners, modal interchanges, civic platforms and various sustainable equipment that is planned within this comprehensive project for Arrecife, as well as other cross-cutting integration and mobility projects that would also be launched such as the 'safe school routes' that will connect educational centers and will also be integrated into these water paths".
An "ambitious proposal" that will need more funding
According to San Ginés, the Government's intention will be to "provide the 'Arrecife, Capital of the Biosphere' project with at least a similar item to that of this year, in subsequent years". However, he points out that it is an "ambitious proposal that for its execution will have to count, in addition to the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the Government of the Canary Islands in its financing, with the competition of other administrations, such as that of the City Council itself or the Water Consortium, and European funds, among others".
The architect Juan Palop foresees, according to what he reported during the presentation of the proposal in which he is currently working, that "the preliminary project could be finished at the end of the year", with which the execution of most of the actions of this "exciting project for Arrecife" will see the light from the next 2019 and "very probably in the next legislature, although in the short and medium term it is estimated that some specific actions can be developed such as the development of bio-corners that would incorporate urban furniture, wifi and other endowment elements to promote integration and social participation", said the president of the Cabildo.
Regarding the proposal to create the so-called 'Water Paths', the architect and technical director of the project explained that it is "an innovative and integrating project from the urban point of view that is committed to linking the neighborhoods of the capital with the center and implementing a new system of communication and mobility of the future that facilitates pedestrian mobility and light transport (bicycles, among others) in the city".
"Integrate two important concepts on the island: tourism and water"
For his part, the Minister of Tourism Centers and president of the Water Consortium of Lanzarote, Echedey Eugenio, stressed that "again through this project two important concepts of the island are united and integrated, tourism and water, as dynamizing elements of the city and putting in value the hydraulic infrastructures that will allow to turn the capital of Lanzarote into a great tourist center and not in the forgotten city".
Likewise, the councilor stressed the importance of the global project 'Arrecife, capital of the Biosphere' being born from the "consensus and the sum of wills, between administrations and the population itself, to give Arrecife what it needs and deserves".
Finally, the Councilor for Mobility of the Arrecife City Council, Inodelvia Torres, stated that "among our ambitions for this city is to replace the priority of road traffic with that of people. In this line of work, the design of pedestrian water paths could not be closer to our future urban model or to the Arrecife we want. So, here we are and here we will continue to collaborate to the fullest with the Cabildo so that the Water Paths run and revitalize our public space, for the benefit of citizens".
"A project of all, citizens and public administrations"
The integral project 'Arrecife, Capital of the Biosphere' includes a process of neighborhood consultation in the diagnosis and preliminary project phases that "is being carried out at this time with the participation of the different social and neighborhood groups, inviting them to participate in this living and open process in which the co-participation and involvement of society and neighborhood agents in the planning of this project is sought from its approach", Palop stressed.
Within this consultation process, the Cabildo states that neighborhood meetings have already been held, with simulation of the layout of the 'Argana-El Charco' water path, to study together with the residents themselves the possible endowments and equipment necessary to be executed in this area of the capital, where among other actions and programs it is intended to install 'bio-corners', implement actions of the 'safe school route' project and also provide this large green infrastructure with 'modal interchanges' and 'civic platforms', among others.
