ABSTRACT
Costa Rica is the second smallest republic in Central America; its population in 1977 was 2.1 million. Most social and economic indicators show Costa Rica to be relatively advanced by Central American standards. The national planning office was charged with conducting preproject investigations and developing the project design. To investigate the explicit urban and regional development policy, the study team utilized the 1978–82 National Development Plan. The study team used a simple framework to investigate housing development and finance institutions. Costa Rica does not have a unified construction code; consequently, construction is regulated by a series of unrelated standards administered by a variety of national and local agencies. The Government of Costa Rica, with assistance from United States agency for international development, utilized information from the analysis to design a major urban poverty project for the San Jose Metropolitan Area.
