This Hillside City in South America Rebuilt Itself Around Nature — and Got Healthier

Loja, Ecuador, has transformed its urban landscape through the Sistema Verde Urbano, a network of over 600 hectares of green spaces, river corridors, and parks. Developed in partnership with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja (UTPL), the system integrates water management, pedestrian and cycling mobility, and biodiversity restoration to mitigate flooding and heat while improving resident well-being.

• The Sistema Verde Urbano is a unified network of more than 600 hectares (1,482 acres) of green areas, including three major ecological corridors composed of rivers, ravines, forests, neighborhood parks, and tree-lined streets. This system was designed to address previous issues where parks were isolated and rivers were polluted, and ravines were prone to overflowing during seasonal rains.
• The city integrated water management into its urban planning by following the natural flow of the Zamora and Malacatos rivers. A biological percolation wastewater treatment plant processes nearly all wastewater and returns clean water to these rivers, while the resulting sludge is used for reforestation on hillsides.
• Loja has prioritized active mobility by aligning its transport infrastructure with its ecological plan. In the city center, pedestrians outnumber vehicles by more than two to one, leading to the creation of wider sidewalks, temporary plazas, and a growing cycling network designed to be cooler and safer through green infrastructure.
• The project has yielded measurable ecological and social benefits, including the identification of 18 new species of amphibians and plants, stabilized riverbanks that reduce seasonal flooding, and reported improvements in the physical and emotional well-being of residents.
• The governance of the Sistema Verde Urbano involves a Technical Working Group that broke down silos between municipal departments (planning, environment, mobility, public works, and water utility) and UTPL researchers. The strategy is formalized in the city's Land Use Plan, Green Mobility Plan, and Climate Action Plan 2040.

APA

World Resources Institute (2026). This Hillside City in South America Rebuilt Itself Around Nature — and Got Healthier. https://www.wri.org/insights/loja-ecuador-urban-nature-healthy-city

Chicago

World Resources Institute. This Hillside City in South America Rebuilt Itself Around Nature — and Got Healthier. 2026. https://www.wri.org/insights/loja-ecuador-urban-nature-healthy-city.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=This Hillside City in South America Rebuilt Itself Around Nature — and Got Healthier |date=3 February 2026 |url=https://www.wri.org/insights/loja-ecuador-urban-nature-healthy-city |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitute2026this, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{This Hillside City in South America Rebuilt Itself Around Nature — and Got Healthier}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, year = {2026}, month = feb, url = {https://www.wri.org/insights/loja-ecuador-urban-nature-healthy-city}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }