Rio de Janeiro’s historic center tells a story familiar to many cities across Latin America and the developing world: decades of outward expansion have hollowed out urban cores, leaving behind degraded buildings, strained public services, and neighborhoods that once defined the city’s civic life. Washington Fajardo has spent over a decade designing urban revitalization policies to address this decay. As the Director of the IDB Cities’ Lab he works on cutting-edge solutions to address urban challenges in Latin America and the Caribbean. Previously as the Mayor’s Special Advisor for Urban Issues and President of the Rio World Heritage Institute (2009–2016), he designed policies and financing mechanisms to preserve heritage, regenerate buildings, and improve public services in the city center. He joins the Growth Lab to discuss what it takes to bring city centers back to life: which policy tools actually work to regenerate buildings and public spaces, how to finance preservation at scale, and what Rio’s experience offers other cities grappling with urban decay at their core.

Speaker: Washington Fajardo, Director of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Cities Lab

Moderator: Andres Fortunato, Growth Lab Research Manager

Whether attending in person or virtually, please register in advance. Room attendance is permitted for the Harvard community. Lunch will be served. The Zoom session is open to the public.

Speaker Bio: Washington Fajardo is an architect and urbanist. He coordinates Cities LAB at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in the Housing and Urban Development Division, where he works on institutional innovation, urban regeneration, and digital transformation and AI adoption in Latin American and Caribbean cities. From 2009 to 2016, throughout Rio de Janeiro’s preparation for the 2016 Olympic Games, he served as the Mayor’s special advisor for urban issues and head of historic preservation, working on Porto Maravilha, the UNESCO World Heritage designation of Rio’s Carioca Landscapes, and the protection of Cais do Valongo. He returned to City Hall as Chief of Urban Planning and President of the Instituto Pereira Passos (2021–2022), where he created Reviver Centro, the downtown housing and regeneration program. He curated the Brazilian Pavilion at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale and was a Harvard Loeb Fellow (2019).

The Growth Lab’s “Development Talks” is a series of conversations with policymakers and academics working on economic growth and development in countries, regions, states, and cities in the US and around the world. The seminar provides a platform for practitioners and researchers to discuss both economic growth and development and analytical work centered on policy.