Colombia - National Urban Transport Project

PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID) APPRAISAL STAGE Report No.: AB784 CO National Urban Transport Project Name Region LATIN AMERICA AND CARIBBEAN Sector Roads and highways (100%) Project ID P082466 Borrower(s) REPUBLIC OF COLOMBIA Implementing Agency Ministry of Finance Environment Category [ ] A [X] B [ ] C [ ] FI [ ] TBD Safeguard Classification [ ] S1 [X] S2 [ ] S3 [ ] SF [ ] TBD Date PID Prepared March 22, 2004 Date of Appraisal March 12, 2004 Authorization Date of Board Approval May 27, 2004 1. Country and Sector Background Like most of Latin American countries in the last decades, Colombia has experienced a high population increase in urban centers due to several economic and social factors. In addition, Colombia has also experienced several decades of armed conflict, that has displaced approximately 2.5 million people from rural to urban areas, of which 50 percent have been located in the four largest cities. As a result today 75% of the total population of Colombia live in cities. This concentration process has moved poverty issues away from rural areas into the cities, as it is now estimated that two thirds of the Colombian population living below the poverty line is located in urban areas. World Bank: (Colombia Poverty Report. 2002). Colombia's largest urban agglomeration is the city of Bogot