Episode 9: Metropolitan Management and Planning
In this episode Viviana talks with Pedro B. Ortiz. He is one of the few experts in metropolitan management and planning, and a leader in bringing awareness to the latent reality that large cities have to grow in a more strategic and sustainable fashion. Metropolises carry the inheritance of starting under situations in which social equity, and long term thinking was not part of the strategy. The result of it is the uncontrollable spread of slums all over the world. Mitigating this problem could not be more urgent, and governments addressing it is paramount. The real estate industry will be instrumental in contributing to mitigate this issue and help grow cities efficiently.
Read more about Pedro and Metropolitan Management and Planning on www.pedrobortiz.com
Guest’s Bio:
Pedro B. Ortiz is an international consultant for Metropolitan Management and Planning. He primarily consults for International Government Organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, Confederación Andina de Fomento and others. He advises national and local Governments in many countries as well as consulting firms. Ortiz was General Director for Metropolitan Planning and Management of the Madrid Region (with the Madrid Government) and Deputy Mayor of Madrid, where he was in charge of Strategic and Regional Planning. As Deputy Mayor and Director General, he produced the Strategic Plan for Madrid of 1994 and the Metropolitan Plan 2016 for the Madrid Region. From 2010-2013, Pedro B. Ortiz was a staff member of the World Bank’s Urban Department in its Washington DC Headquarters. Under its auspices, he was involved in projects in Romania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Liberia and Mauritius. With other IGO’s and governments, he has worked in Latin America in Guatemala, Buenos Aires, Kingston, Bogota, Medellin, Buenaventura, Cali and Caribe. With the European Union, he was an advisor to the Mumbai (India) government. Other consulting projects have been for institutions in Taiwan, Ivory Coast, USA, Mexico, France, Italy, Poland and Spain. When he was at The World Bank, Ortiz established a system of metropolitan management and development that addresses the explosive growth that is occurring in international developing metropolises. Pedro B. Ortiz has been visiting professor at Milano Politecnico, the leading Italian University for urban planning and design. He received his degree in architecture (six years) from Madrid University and received an MSc and Diploma in Urban Studies from Oxford Polytechnic. In addition, Ortiz has a Diploma in International Studies from the Escuela Diplomática of Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Among other books, he recently published a book (McGraw-Hill New York): The Art of Shaping the Metropolis, which is in main university libraries and is receiving worldwide attention including MIT’s (Cambridge, MA.) research departments.
