Ciudad Guayana: A Planned Metropolis on the Orinoco

Great cities have historically demonstrated an affinity for riverine locations. Current activity in Venezuela points to the creation of a major urban node on the south bank of the Orinoco River, at its confluence with the Caroni (Figure 1). Since World War Two, but especially in the last decade, an important series of events within this area of Venezuela has pointed up the opportunity, if not the necessity, of bringing this long dormant region into the nation's developed, effectivelysettled domain. The mining and shipping of iron ore from El Pao by Bethlehem Steel's subsidiary, Iron Mines Company, initiated before the war but not operational until 1950, was the first major stimulus. The region was further awakened with the arrival of United States Steel's Orinoco Mining Company which opened up the Cerro Bolívar iron ore deposit. The first shipment here was in 1954. In both these projects, the developers had to bring in everything necessary for the beginning of operations.