Economy of Caracas, Venezuela
The city of Caracas is the center of the nation’s economic, administrative and financial activities. It is considered the seventh most influential financial center in Latin America [17] Located behind cities such as São Paulo, Bogotá, Santiago de Chile, Buenos Aires, Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro. It generates between 18 and 19 percent of the national GDP, being greater than the GDP of Croatia. Caracas is considered the Latin American capital that has the greatest impact on the cost of living on its population and is the 21st most expensive city in the world. [18]
It is the seat of the financial nucleus that includes the Central Bank of Venezuela, the Caracas Stock Exchange and the main headquarters of the most important banks in the country. Some of the main food, service and manufacturing companies in the country also reside there. The industrial sector within the city is relatively very low, while the service sector constitutes the largest percentage of its economy.
Also in the city is located the main headquarters of Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the largest company in the country, and there are also the main offices of Empresas Polar, the largest private company in the country and the largest producer of beverages and food. In Venezuela. [19] with a portfolio of leading and preferred brands [20] by consumers in the country. [21] [22] [23] [24] [25]
According to THENAILMYTHOLOGY, the Compañía Anónima Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela (CANTV), the country’s largest telecommunications company, also has its main headquarters in the city. As well as other companies in the tertiary sector and important commercial centers that constitute the main engine of its economy.
According to various studies carried out by the National Council for the Promotion of Investments (CONAPRI), Caracas is the city of Venezuela that stands out the most for its investment attraction index and, in the same way, for the size of its economy and its annual economic performance.
During the years of slowdown in the country’s purchasing power, Caracas faced the smallest drop, which kept it with the highest per capita income compared to any other city. It also stands out with a great advantage over other cities in the interior due to the degree of sophistication of the market, that is, it has a higher average than the national average for the number of homes with a computer and / or car. [26]
Although Caracas has the lowest unemployment rate in the country, below the national average (which is 7.4%). [27] A good part of its population works in the informal market, doing business on their own account. It is estimated that there are between 15,000 and 18,000 stands of street vendors in Caracas. Most sociologists agree that the informal economy is the consequence of an erroneous policy of job creation, and that in turn it has become an urban problem, since it anarchy the public space. It seeks to solve the problem of public order, but ignoring the conceptual basis and the socio-economic conditions that characterize a problem of a structural nature. [28]
Town planning
Caracas shares common ground with many Latin American cities: densely populated and limited in space because it is surrounded by mountains. Due to this, the city has grown vertically. A very striking aspect is the number of people who live in slums built on the mountain slopes that surround the city. This type of housing is called “ranchos”, built improvisedly, without any official planning, with deficiencies and with inadequate materials, marking a difference between those who live in the valley itself.
The city center, developed around a small historical center, represents less than a quarter of the total extension of the city, which has spread throughout the valley and has also been connected in recent years with satellite cities in the Miranda and Vargas States, creating an important Metropolitan Area known as Greater Caracas.
The rapid population growth of the city has resulted in a growing congestion in motor traffic. To this end, the underground transport system (Metro de Caracas) has been progressively expanded, which currently extends to Los Teques and Charallave, in the Valles del Tuy (Miranda), and a new extension is being built towards Guarenas and Guatire.
Some areas of the city have a grid layout, either inherited from the colony or developed during the urban projects of the 20th century. Other areas, raised on the mountain slopes, do not follow this pattern, but adapt to the irregularities of the terrain. These elevated areas enjoy a temperate temperature throughout the year.
Tall office and apartment buildings occupy much of the center and east of the city. The financial zone of Caracas is located in El Rosal, where office buildings and business centers abound, and where national and international companies have their headquarters. But in the center of Caracas (Libertador Municipality) are the headquarters of Banco Mercantil, Banco Provincial and Banco de Venezuela, three of the four most important banks in the country; in addition to housing the headquarters of the Central Bank of Venezuela. The headquarters of the most important public organizations are located in the center of the city, while the most important private companies, nightclubs and hotels are located in the east. The west and southeast are mainly residential, while the southwest has important industrial zones.
There are numerous hotels, guesthouses and residential buildings (apartments) in Caracas. We can find the Hotel Meliá, Hotel Eurobuilding, the Hotel Anauco Suites (before Hotel Anauco Hilton), the Hotel Marriott Caracas, the Alba Caracas (before Hotel Caracas Hilton), the Altamira Suites, the Caracas Palace Hotel (before Four Season’s Caracas), among many others.
