This space is reserved for the first phase of the Sustainable Santiago (Chile) program which is presently being organized by the Ciudad Viva (Living City) program there. A short introductory note on the program and its intentions follows.

We propose that this will be a free standing site, complete with the usual Search and other interactive functions, and is to be brought on line in a Beta version for testing and comment in the weeks immediately ahead. It will be a Spanish language site, and will be accompanied by the usual machine translation capabilities. The effort is being directed by Lake Sagaris of the Ciudad Viva program. (Some background remarks by Mr. Sagaris follow.)

"This is by no means a theoretical discussion. We are working with a coalition of territorial organizations (residents associations and small to medium-sized commerce, basically) that cut its teeth in a major battle against a highway project. This became an in-depth program in sustainable transportation and a whole host of other urban development and popular cultural issues, and we have now become a non-profit corporation, working on transport, urban planning (basically zoning laws, called "planes reguladores" in Spanish), garbage and waste treatment, safety, etc.

"The initial target will be to use the Web and other means at our disposal to prepare a high-profile, collaborative strategic response to an announcement recently by the Transport Minister which has asked for citizens' participation in planning collective transportation (i.e., buses and metro) in September. Our immediate intention is to develop a virtual debate that will lead to (if the majority so rules!): 1) a draft sustainable transportation agenda for the city, and 2) concrete actions to publicize and push this agenda. The plan is to start with quite a short, 1 to 1 1/2 page intro, posing some questions and inviting the transport engineers and many others who have advised us over the years to drop in and participate. Particiaption from Bogota, Curitiba and other cities and groups will be invited.. At the end of this process, if it works, we are going to try and organize a public forum with a panel of relevant citizens' and expert speakers."