By Gilberto Chona and Sarah Benton* Hurricanes - like Hurricane Irma - and tropical storms threaten the Caribbean with tragic frequency making it one of the most vulnerable regions on the planet. These phenomena affect lives, infrastructure and economies, and are worsening with climate change. These impacts are significant and require serious attention to strategies to … [Read more...] about Ready to face Hurricane Irma?
Gilberto Chona
Lead Specialist, Urban Development Economics. Inter-American Development Bank (Washington, DC). He is an expert in the formulation and supervision of Action Plans for the intermediate cities of Central America and the Caribbean. In 2015-2017, he served as Regional Coordinator for the Emerging and Sustainable Cities Program (ESC) in the IDB's Housing and Urban Development Division. He also formulates and oversees urban regeneration studies and investments and human settlements upgrading projects in several countries. His 27 years of experience with projects at the IDB include fiscal, institutional and operational analysis in Mexico, Central America, Panama, the Dominican Republic and, most recently, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago. His current interests are fiscal sustainability, leveraging private urban investments, the institutional governance of cities and smart city solutions. Mr. Chona holds a degree in Urban Planning (Urbanist) from Venezuela's Simón Bolívar University (1986) and a Master in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology – MIT (1991).