Grupo Argos Begins Impact Assessment to Quantify the Contribution of Ciudad Mallorquín to Social Capital Formation and Quality of Life Improvement for Its Inhabitants

• The assessment will be carried out in partnership with Fedesarrollo and will explore the possibilities of social mobility through access to essential services such as public transportation, healthcare, and employment opportunities. Furthermore, it will examine the impact that the availability of a high-quality park system and advanced urban planning have on the well-being of the community.
• The study, which will have two phases, will conduct interviews with more inhabitants of Barranquilla and Puerto Colombia to identify the benefits of developing multi-strata neighborhoods for social capital formation.
• With this housing project located in the northern part of the Barranquilla metropolitan area, Grupo Argos aims to provide quality, sustainable, and inclusive solutions for the city’s inhabitants.

As part of its commitment to the sustainable development of Barranquilla and the planned growth of its metropolitan area, Grupo Argos and Fedesarrollo will begin an impact assessment to identify the main changes in quality of life experienced by the families of Ciudad Mallorquín and quantify the contribution of these types of multi-strata projects, with the highest standards of urban planning, environmental, and mobility, to the formation of social capital.

For the development of this project, the company formed an alliance with Fedesarrollo, an entity that has served as an independent think tank for over 50 years to promote debate on issues of general interest, to conduct a study using the difference-in-differences methodology that allows comparing the change between households that are part of Ciudad Mallorquín and others with similar specifications that are not located in this area. In the initial stage, more than 2,400 surveys will be conducted.

“We are fully convinced of the positive impact that multi-strata projects like Ciudad Mallorquín generate on social mobility, investment attraction, and regional economic development. This study aims to validate the various academic theories that have been woven globally about urban development.”

María Clara Aristizabal, Manager of Urban Development Business at Grupo Argos

Ciudad Mallorquín is an inclusive and sustainable housing project that seeks to connect the inhabitants of the Barranquilla metropolitan area with the highest standards of urbanism and complete systems of public spaces, bike paths, and additional services. It includes the construction of 16,000 homes, a significant contribution to reducing the quantitative housing deficit in Atlántico, which amounts to 32,000 homes, meaning this initiative would cover more than half of that gap. It is part of an ecosystem of developments up to stratum 6, which implies that people under different conditions will be able to share the space, thanks in part to the park that will be built and will be the largest in the metropolitan area, with 130,000 m2 of public space and green corridors.

The project involves 11 construction companies from Barranquilla, Bogotá, Medellín, and Santander, which are investing more than COP 2.2 trillion, a virtuous circle that has flourished in Barranquilla over the last 20 years. In addition to these medium and long-term benefits, there are other more immediate benefits for the region from the development of this project:

• COP 3.5 trillion in housing sales
• More than COP 165 billion in direct investment from Grupo Argos
• Creation of over 2,000 jobs during construction
• Increases in property tax revenue for the municipality of Puerto Colombia by more than 50%
• The largest urban park in the metropolitan area