We believe that cities have opportunities to become successful, urban poles that bring economic prosperity, well-being, and health to their citizens and visitors.
We are committed to facilitating, educating, and empowering Guatemalans to plan, design, and build the cities of the future.
How it is
Current legislation and lack of incentives promote car dependency, pollution, inefficient infrastructure, low-density, single-use developments, and urban sprawl.
Because of this, our cities lack efficiency and desirability causing safety concerns, heavy traffic congestion, ineffective infrastructure and low connectivity for sustainable mobility options, and an unappealing experience that deteriorates the health of our citizens, elevates the cost of living and disincentivizes living and investing in cities.
We envision urban centers in Guatemala that are attractive environments for citizens and businesses to thrive in. Cities, streets, and places that foster a sense of community and enhance the quality of life by providing safe and convenient access to essential resources and opportunities for economic growth, recreation, and a healthy lifestyle in close proximity.
This can all be possible with legislation and incentives that promote density, accessibility, free markets, investment, and facilitate exchange of ideas and growth of businesses.
We have been guiding and facilitating courses and dynamics for active learning at the Universidad Francisco Marroquín for 4 years with the goal of empowering students to become citizens more committed to their city and to find private solutions to latent public problems in Guatemala City.
More than 200 students have been part of Síudad over the years. We are characterized by creating unique learning experiences like guided tours, site visits, interviews, dialogues, co-creation workshops, analysis of urban quality and prototyping processes. We seek to transform challenges into opportunities through proposals that take into account the context of the area where we are working and contribute significantly to the lives of citizens.
The global objectives of Síudad are:
To expand knowledge and curiosity in concepts of the city, urban planning and entrepreneurship
Put Design Thinking tools into practice to create impact projects
Collaborate with multidisciplinary people and create solutions that improve life in the city.
La Nueva Ciudad Vieja
La Nueva Ciudad Vieja is a proposal for a healthy, safe and sustainable district for the Ciudad Vieja neighborhood in zone 10 of Guatemala City. We seek to transform and revitalize this urban sector that is currently in deteriorating and unfavorable conditions for investment, especially in housing and recreation.
We identify a high potential in this area due to its central location and supply of different services and job offers. We are carrying out an updated data recollection with information on land uses, distributions, dimensions, state of public spaces such as sidewalks, streets, parks, squares and urban equipment.
Our goal is to identify opportunities and propose solutions that increase density, desirability, and connectivity to create a thriving district. At the same time, we are interested in setting a precedent with a strategy that is replicable and executable in any neighborhood or district of the City.
Julián Castillo Holzheu
Urbanist architect with experience in design, strategy and project development.
Facilitator of educational and co-creation experiences.
Passionate about cities, nature and the well-being of people.
Paulina de la Riva Peralta
Business administrator with a focus on finance, experienced in data analysis and collection, entrepreneurship, and project management. Facilitator of education and co-creation experiences.
Passionate about the urban experience and the opportunities that cities offer for people to live an exciting life.
Julián Castillo Holzheu
Paulina de la Riva Peralta
Reach out and let’s improve life in cities, together.
