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History[edit]

Foundation[edit]

A portrait of conquistador Ñuflo de Chaves, showing his coat of arms in the upper right corner
Ñuflo de Chaves, the founder of Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Following the Spanish conquest and colonization across much of South America, Spanish colonists sought to find a land route between the Río de la Plata and the heartland of the Viceroyalty of Peru. In 1549, an expedition from Asunción led by Domingo Martínez de Irala was bogged down in the Gran Chaco. Upon reaching the Río Guapay, Ñuflo de Chaves was dispatched to move forward with a small contingent of explorers to the capital of the Viceroyalty in Lima, seeking to formalize land claims over the area.[1][2]

In February 1558, Chaves again led an expedition of 150 Spaniards and around 2,000 Guaraní auxiliaries up the Paraguay River to search for the mythical city of Paititi and allow for Platense expansion into the region. After conflict with various native groups, the expedition reached the Río Guapay and founded the city of Nuevo Asunción there on 1 August 1559. Several days later, a expedition from Peru under Andrés Manso arrived at the outpost, having received permission to colonize the region. In order to resolve the ensuing land dispute, Chaves and an emissary of Manso's departed to Lima. After negotiations with viceroy Andrés Hurtado de Mendoza, a province of Mojos was established under governor García Hurtado de Mendoza, the viceroy's son.[1][2]

Due to García's absence, Chaves was appointed as lieutenant (and thus acting) governor and led a large Spanish colonization mission into the region. He allied with the local Chiquitanos, the dominant indigenous power in the lowland plains. Chaves was steered to a favorable site to serve as the capital of the region near the Sutos creek. On 26 February 1561 a ceremony was held to mark the founding of the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, named for Chaves's eponymous hometown in Extremadura. In 1568, the Itatínes attacked the fledgling settlement, killing Chaves.[2]

Diego de Mendoza was elected governor and repelled the Itatínes. He was soon deposed by Francisco de Toledo in favor of Juan Pérez de Zurita. However, Mendoza and his supporters repelled Zurita from the settlement upon his arrival. Toledo organized a punitive expedition against Santa Cruz, but was attacked by the Chiriguanos upon entering the lowlands and forced to withdraw. Santa Cruz was gripped with political strife during the ensuing period of self-governance. Toledo offered amnesty to the city and requested to meet with Mendoza, who was then executed upon arrival in Potosí.[3]

The regional administrative body, the Real Audiencia of Charcas, sought to establish a new settlement in the western lowlands to supercede Santa Cruz and allow for easier travel and administration. In 1580, Lorenzo Suárez de Figueroa led a military expedition into the region and briefly established a fort between the Piraí and Guapay rivers. The fort was abandoned after conflict with the Guaraní in favor of a locale on the western bank of the Guapay, dubbed San Lorenzo el Real. Despite goverment orders, the residents of Santa Cruz refused to move to the new settlement, angered by the usurpation of governance over the region. Shortly after San Lorenzo el Real's foundation, a major flood destroyed the nascent settlement, which was then rebuilt on the site of the previous fort.[4]

In 1604, the Audiencia of Charcas again requested the residents of Santa Cruz to move to San Lorenzo. Instead, the town relocated to another site 5 leagues (24 km) away from San Lorenzo, unwilling to lose autonomy. In 1621, San Lorenzo governor Nuño de la Cueva mediated an agreement between the two settlements, promising continued autonomy to the inhabitants of Santa Cruz despite their relocation to San Lorenzo. This led to steady Cruceño hegemony over the settlement, which was renamed to Santa Cruz de la Sierra several years later.[4]

Independence[edit]

Santa Cruz was transferred to the administration of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata following its establishment in 1778. Due to its remoteness from either Lima or Buenos Aires, this had little tangible effect on the city.[4]

Following the beginning of the Bolivian War of Independence in 1809, officers Eustaquio Moldes and Juan Manuel Lemoine traveled to the city to encourage it to join the revolutionaries. It seceded from Upper Peru on 24 September 1810, initiating a fifteen-year guerilla campaign against Royalist forces. In 1814, a group of Cruceño guerillas under Argentine colonel Ignacio Warnes ambushed and defeated a contingent of 900 royalists. Initially expecting administration under the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, the city was abruptly incorporated as part of the new Republic of Bolivia in 1825. Antonio Vincente Seoane was sent as the city's delegate to the Assembly of the Provinces of Upper Peru in Chuquisaca; he arrived on August 6, following the drafting and signing of the Bolivian Declaration of Independence, and made the final signature onto the document the same day.[5]

Following the completion of the Madeira-Mamoré Railroad in the Brazilian state of Acre in 1912, Bolivia's rubber exports began to bypass Santa Cruz, leading to a significant economic decline in the city.[6] From 1911 to 1916, the Bolivian Congress authorized a series of four major railroad construction projects. One of these was a link between Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, which was seen as a vital step expanding economic integration and development in the region. This line would replace the existing 450 kilometres (280 mi) trail, which required two weeks to traverse. While progress on these lines continued under the government of Bautista Saavedra during the early 1920s, credit difficulties and the falling price of tin led to the project halting.[7]

Urban development and expansion[edit]

By the 1940s, Bolivia had grown economically dependent on tin mining and imported much of its food. In 1942, American economist Merwin Bohan visited Bolivia and advised further development in the lowlands in order to expand agriculture and fossil fuel industries in the region in order to offset these issues. The following year, the national legislature approved the creation of the Comité de Obras Publicas, 'Committee on Public Works' (COP) in the department in order to levy taxes for infrastructure development. However, large-scale growth and development only began in the city following the Bolivian National Revolution in 1952. With the previous oligarchy removed, the country shifted away from tin mining. Oil and natural gas resources in the lowlands were increasingly exploited, leading to the beginnings of a period of rapid growth in Santa Cruz by the late 1950s.[8]

In response to this growth, the COP approached the Italian–Brazilian Companía Técnica Internacional (Techint) to draft an urban development plan for the city. The resulting Plan Techint was inspired by 1930s infrastructure developments in São Paulo and the Garden city movement. It organized the city into four concentric rings, each divided into a number of self-contained neighborhood units connected via public transportion. A large green belt was to be established outside the outermost ring road. In early 1966, the city began paving its roadways to accommodate this plan; by 1978, the first two rings of the city would be paved. Large-scale housing developments were constructed outside the core of the city, featuring "Chalet-style" houses fashioned from concrete, ceramics, and metal. As the city developed, the COP established the Consejo del Plan Regulador, 'Regulatory Planning Council' in 1967 to enforce zoning laws and supervise developments. Spurred on by increasing oil production, the city entered an expansive boom period from 1963 to 1978. A sewer system, telephone network, and power plant were all constructed in the city during this period.[9] Additionally, rail connections to the border towns of Puerto Suárez and Yacuiba were built during the 1970s, connecting the city to the Brazilian and Argentine economies.[10]

Development in the region was prioritized under the 1971–1978 dictatorship of Hugo Banzer, originally from rural Santa Cruz.[9] Expanding on the success of the Plan Techint, a new plan titled the Plano Regulador was adopted in 1972. The Plano Regulador focused on the development outer two rings, with the fourth and outermost ring road serving as the city limit. Many aspects of the Plan Techint were never fully adopted due to mass migration into the city; the city's population in 1978 exceeded Techint's population projections for the year 2000. The organization of self-contained neighborhood units was never completed, and no centralized public transportation system was established.[11]

An aerial view of Santa Cruz, showing the city center and a portion of the Rio Parai. The city's ring road system is visible
Santa Cruz has significantly expanded beyond its original ring road system.

In contrast to the prior centralized development plans, urban development became increasingly informal by the late 1970s. Taking advantage of migrant waves in the late 1970s and 1980s, speculators purchased vacant, amenity-deprived lots outside the city and sold them to buyers under promises of future urban expansion. A lack of affordable or public housing in the city led to the formation of renters’ unions among migrants to negotiate for housing. Many migrants, unable to obtain housing within the city itself, organized land invasion into much of the greenbelt and constructed rudimentary housing. Unable to prevent sprawl into the greenbelt, the municipal government modified the Plano Regulador into the Plan Director Ampliado in 1978, formalizing settlement in the greenbelt and allowing for a belt of low-income housing outside of the 4th ring. These areas would be incorporated into municipal tax and service systems, but would be unregulated in terms of construction and development.[11]

In 1978, the COP was reorganized as the Corporación Regional de Desarrollo and shifted focus away from urban development into regional infrastructure. This coincided with the beginning of a seven-year period of political and economic instability in the country, leading to the adoption of neoliberal reforms and increased private real estate development, which largely replaced government infrastructure investments.[11]

The Piraí River flooded in 1983, destroying large amounts of housing in the city and leaving 3,200 residents homeless. In response, Mayor Sergio Antelo Gutiérrez allocated lots to the displaced in a 90 hectares (220 acres) housing development dubbed Plan Tres Mil. Further migration into the area prompted continued residential and commercial development in this area; in 2001, its population reached 150,000 residents.[11]

Geography[edit]

Map of Santa Cruz municipality within Andrés Ibáñez Province. The municipal area encircles much of the municipality of Cotoca.

Santa Cruz is the largest city and political center of the Oriente, a large lowland region of Bolivia including the departments of Santa Cruz, Beni, and Pando, alongside the eastern portions of Tarija and Chuquisaca. This region, largely comprised of flat plains, transitions between the Amazon rainforest and the dry Gran Chaco to the south.[12]

The municipality has a land area of 1,404.71 km2 (542.36 sq mi), of which 32.9% is urbanized, while 11.2% is forested. It sits along the eastern bank of the Piraí River, and is thus located in the Amazon drainage basin.[13]

The city sits at an elevation of 430 metres (1,410 ft), about 50 kilometres (31 mi) east of the Cordillera Oriental mountains. The nearest other major city, Cochabamba, lies on the western edge of the Cordillera, 500 kilometres (310 mi) away. The pass between the two cities reaches an elevation of 3,430 metres (11,250 ft) near Tiraque. Prior to the construction of a paved highway in 1954, passage across the mountains was immensely difficult, with travelers frequently taking months to reach the other city.[12]

Administrative divisions[edit]

Santa Cruz is administratively divided into 15 districts. These were initially established by the 1995 Plan Regulador, which divided the city into twelve numbered urban districts, each themselves divided into unidades vecinales, 'neighborhood units'. In 2004, the municipal government established four rural districts numbered 13 through 16, to allow for future urban expansion; these remain sparsely populated. One urban district and one rural district were abolished, bringing the total to eleven urban districts, three rural districts, and one industrial district.[14][13]

Climate[edit]

The city has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen: Aw), with an average annual temperature around 25 °C (77 °F) and all months above of 18 °C or 64.4 °F.[15]

Climate data for Santa Cruz de la Sierra, elevation 416 m (1,365 ft), (1971–2009)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 38.8
(101.8) 		39.5
(103.1) 		39.2
(102.6) 		36.7
(98.1) 		35.1
(95.2) 		34.0
(93.2) 		35.0
(95.0) 		37.3
(99.1) 		39.4
(102.9) 		39.0
(102.2) 		40.0
(104.0) 		39.1
(102.4) 		40.0
(104.0)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 31.2
(88.2) 		30.9
(87.6) 		30.8
(87.4) 		29.4
(84.9) 		26.7
(80.1) 		25.2
(77.4) 		25.9
(78.6) 		28.2
(82.8) 		29.6
(85.3) 		31.1
(88.0) 		31.2
(88.2) 		30.8
(87.4) 		29.3
(84.7)
Daily mean °C (°F) 26.3
(79.3) 		26.0
(78.8) 		25.9
(78.6) 		24.3
(75.7) 		21.9
(71.4) 		20.5
(68.9) 		20.4
(68.7) 		22.2
(72.0) 		23.7
(74.7) 		25.5
(77.9) 		25.9
(78.6) 		26.1
(79.0) 		24.1
(75.3)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 21.4
(70.5) 		21.1
(70.0) 		21.0
(69.8) 		19.2
(66.6) 		17.1
(62.8) 		15.7
(60.3) 		14.9
(58.8) 		16.3
(61.3) 		17.8
(64.0) 		19.9
(67.8) 		20.6
(69.1) 		21.3
(70.3) 		18.9
(65.9)
Record low °C (°F) 9.3
(48.7) 		12.0
(53.6) 		11.4
(52.5) 		8.5
(47.3) 		3.7
(38.7) 		4.0
(39.2) 		1.3
(34.3) 		1.9
(35.4) 		4.9
(40.8) 		7.0
(44.6) 		9.4
(48.9) 		13.3
(55.9) 		1.3
(34.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 196.5
(7.74) 		160.3
(6.31) 		144.6
(5.69) 		115.4
(4.54) 		95.2
(3.75) 		74.2
(2.92) 		54.3
(2.14) 		55.9
(2.20) 		79.8
(3.14) 		119.0
(4.69) 		162.2
(6.39) 		195.9
(7.71) 		1,453.3
(57.22)
Average precipitation days 14.4 13.6 13.6 10.7 10.6 9.0 5.8 5.1 6.2 8.4 10.3 13.8 121.5
Average relative humidity (%) 77.0 77.0 76.7 75.9 76.9 77.2 70.2 65.7 64.8 68.2 71.2 76.6 73.1
Mean monthly sunshine hours 181.3 185.0 165.4 195.3 180.5 155.9 162.2 162.8 181.8 164.4 140.3 136.8 2,011.7
Source: Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología de Bolivia[16][17]

Cityscape[edit]

A group of high-rise towers seen from a palm-lined avenue
High-rises in the Equipetrol neighborhood
A photo of Santa Cruz taken from the air, showing the city center and the Pirai River to the right
Aerial view of Santa Cruz, 2020

The original extent of Santa Cruz is now dubbed the casco viejo, 'colonial center'. The infrastructure developments and road ring system of the 1960s and 70s greatly expanded from this core, but are now themselves only a portion of the wider cityscape due to significant urban sprawl. Successive migrant waves have led to significant overcrowding in these low-income outer neighborhoods, sometimes described as slums due to their lack of access to water and sanitation services. New housing developments in these areas frequently begin as one-room houses, to which new rooms are gradually added and rented out.[18]

Although the casco viejo has seen significant office and apartment development, many wealthier residents have moved to the exterior neighborhoods of the city center, including Equipetrol and Urbarí. Due to crime concerns, other elites have increasingly settled in gated communities along the edges of the city limits. This has led to significant recreational developments in these outlying areas, including sporting facilities, golf courses, and theme parks. Santa Cruz's growth has also led to the expansion of neighboring cities in the broader metropolitan area, such as Warnes, La Guardia, and Cotoca.[18]

Demographics[edit]

Santa Cruz's population grew more than fiftyfold between 1942 and 2010. Between 1969 and 2001 alone, the urban population grew ten times, rising from 115,185 to 1,113,000.

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1942 29,501—    
1950 42,746+4.74%
1956 50,203+2.72%
1966 96,091+6.71%
1969 115,185+6.23%
1976 256,000+12.09%
1992 697,000+6.46%
2001 1,113,000+5.34%
2010 1,651,436+4.48%
2022 1,903,398+1.19%
Source: [10][19]

Economy[edit]

Since the economic liberalization of the 1980s, Santa Cruz has emerged as the preeminent economic center of Bolivia. Many multinational firms have moved their national headquarters into the city, especially including energy companies such as Petrobras, Repsol, and British Gas.[20]

Urban poverty[edit]

Politics[edit]

Regionalism[edit]

Culture[edit]

Landmarks[edit]

Sports[edit]

Media[edit]

Transportation[edit]

Sister cities[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Livi Bacci 2010, pp. 73–76.
  2. ^ a b c Stearman 1985, pp. 22–23.
  3. ^ Stearman 1985, pp. 23–24.
  4. ^ a b c Stearman 1985, pp. 24–25.
  5. ^ Stearman 1985, pp. 25–26.
  6. ^ Hillman 2011, p. 113.
  7. ^ Hillman 2011, pp. 98–99.
  8. ^ Kirshner 2013, p. 545.
  9. ^ a b Kirshner 2013, pp. 545–546.
  10. ^ a b Kirshner 2013, p. 549.
  11. ^ a b c d Kirshner 2013, pp. 546–547.
  12. ^ a b Kirshner 2009, pp. 23–25.
  13. ^ a b GAMSC & UN-Habitat 2022, pp. 9–10.
  14. ^ Kirshner 2013, p. 550.
  15. ^ Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L.; McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen-Geiger climate classification" (PDF). Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. 11 (5). European Geosciences Union: 1633–1644. Bibcode:2007HESS...11.1633P. doi:10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007. ISSN 1027-5606. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  16. ^ "Base de datos Sistema Meteorológico–SISMET" (in Spanish). Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología de Bolivia. Archived from the original on 7 June 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  17. ^ "índices climáticos para 149 estaciones meteorológicas en Bolivia" (in Spanish). Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología de Bolivia. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  18. ^ a b Kirshner 2013, p. 548.
  19. ^ GAMSC & UN-Habitat 2022, p. 10.
  20. ^ Kirshner 2013, pp. 548–549.

Bibliography[edit]

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