Uploaded on 2015-05-19 by JohnNeumann

Stocks and flows in Lima – People, Density, Material Lima as a city has undergone a process of rapid urbanization over the past half century. The city is currently home to just under ten million residents. Although the pace of land-to-city migration has slowed over the last decades, the process continues to this day. Land lying outside the city is progressively occupied by new settlers, taking the form of improvised living quarters and neighbourhoods that are not planned by city authorities. As time progresses, these quarters consolidate and over time eventually receive public services from the administration. An initial flow of settlers therefore moves on to constitute a stock of residents in the city. A reverse trend of residents leaving the city has also emerged recently, as the economies of smaller urban centres throughout the country gain in attractiveness and competitiveness, drawing people to them. As a consequence of the flows of people into the city, flows and stocks of density in the city are also changing the city landscape. In order to provide better services at lower cost, the city’s administration hopes to counter existing sprawl in the city via planning for multi-story housing and denser neighbourhoods that combine a variety of uses in order to minimize travel across the city. Entire neighbourhoods are therefore being transformed from an urban fabric made up of single family homes of one or two stories in height, to a denser urban fabric of multi-story buildings of five to seven stories in height, with retail on the bottom floor and housing or commercial (office) use on upper levels. Consequence of the rapid densification of the city and the construction industry driving it, materials also constitute important flows and stocks in the city. The dominant construction method and material is reinforced concrete. Flows of the components of concrete as well as steel enter the city. Once new structures are built, the resulting reinforced concrete structures become stocks of materials in the city. With regard to changes in stocks and flows that could in the future benefit Lima, one could mention the following: 1. A city with greater density per square kilometre (stock) would in the future allow for a more efficient network of services, ranging from provision of water and sewage treatment, collection of residues, transport, energy provision, etc. 2. A growing stock of better educated city residents could contribute to a more dynamic and diversified economy. 3. The use of more sustainable building materials could contribute to a more resilient and environment-friendly construction industry. ![enter image description here][1] [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14320511871006962.jpg