Santo Domingo´s historic center should be expanded, experts

Santo Domingo.- SantoDomingo´s historic center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, should be expanded tothe Ozama River´s western bank and areas of influence where the Dominicancapital was founded, to add value to the land.

Architect, historian,and urban restaurateur Eugenio Perez Montas; monuments conservation expert EstebanPrieto and urban planner Christopher Valdez also agree that Greater SantoDomingo´s Green Belt must be preserved to protect what they call an importantenvironmental asset.

The experts cautionedhowever that care must be taken in subsequent interventions if the city´s HistoricalCenter, noting that the 1971 earthquake brought down large monuments, addingthat economic and political interests over its areas also pose a dilemma.