Rafaela


Rafaela is a city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, about 96 km from the provincial capital. It is the head town of the Castellanos Department. It has a population of 99,150 per the.
The city was established in 1881 by Guillermo Lehmann, and officially became a city in 1913. The city has grown 22.2% between 1991 and 2001, and 18.6% in the last census period according to the official data of the Population Census. The city is almost the exact antipode of Wuhu in China.
The city hosts Rafaela Aerodrome airport and the Autódromo Ciudad de Rafaela race track.

Zoning of the city

The city is located in the western-center area of Santa Fe Province and has an area of. The design of most of the urban area of the city has a shape of a checkerboard with the main plaza in the middle of the city and four main boulevards coming from there. The street grid of the city is composed by square blocks in most part of the neighborhoods, mainly in the historical and older part of the city.

The city has 37 neighborhoods and the downtown area as the map of the city shows.

Role of citizen participation in planning

In 2008 the municipality of Rafaela created the Department of Administration and Participation and after that the government started implementing a process of Participatory budgeting, based on the successful case of Porto Alegre. The main goal of this process is to consolidate and strengthen the importance of citizen participation in the public agenda.
The government of the city has implemented the method for three consecutive years. The first one in 2009 was completed; the one for 2010 is now in the stage of implementing the public works that resulted from the participation process; and the third project is in process.

Climate

Notable natives

Rafaela is twinned with: