Ciudad Guayana

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Ciudad Guayana
Aerial view of the modern planned part of Guayana City

Seal
Ciudad Guayana
Location in Venezuela
Coordinates: 8°22′N 62°39′W / 8.367°N 62.650°W / 8.367; -62.650Coordinates: 8°22′N 62°39′W / 8.367°N 62.650°W / 8.367; -62.650
Founded July 2, 1961
Government
 • Mayor José Ramón Lopéz
Population (2001)
 • Total 1,050,283
 • Demonym guayanés
Time zone VST (UTC-4:30)
 • Summer (DST) not observed (UTC-4:30)
Area code(s) 0286

Guayana City, in Spanish Ciudad Guayana, is a city in Bolívar State, Venezuela. It lies south of the Orinoco, where the river is joined by the Caroní River. The city, officially founded in 1961, is actually composed of the old town of San Félix at the east and the new town of Puerto Ordaz at the west, which lie on either banks of the Caroní and are connected by three bridges. The city stretches 40 kilometers along the south bank of the Orinoco. With approximately one million people, it is Venezuela's fastest-growing city[citation needed], due to its important iron industry.

Guayana City is one of Venezuela's five most important ports, since most goods produced in Bolívar are shipped through it, onto the Atlantic Ocean via the Orinoco river. The city is also the location of the Second Orinoco crossing.

Guayana City is served by Manuel Carlos Piar Guayana Airport.

History

Since its foundation it has grown from two fledgling towns into the Guayana region's most important industrial center, and a hub of growth in an otherwise typically underpopulated region of Venezuela.

Much critique has been made about its design, which was created by a number of planners from MIT and Harvard in the early 1960s. Lisa Peattie's "A View From the Barrio" is a good discussion of the adverse social effects that can occur when a modernist planned city is placed without regard for context (social, economic, cultural, or climatological) in the middle of nowhere (see also the history of Brasília).

Gallery

See also

External links

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