Siudat vibrante, vibrant city

A unique harbor city, the beating heart of Curaçao, is of tremendous cultural-historical value and offers opportunity for a wide array of users and stakeholders. A 2018 government project brought together residents, stakeholders, local and international experts, like the United Nations, to develop a future identity for the inner city districts. Currently a program is being developed for the regeneration of the inner city, named ‘suidat vibrante’ (vibrant city). This government program builds on the diverse identities of the districts and aims to utilize the different possibilities of the inner city with both public and private partners.

The areas need to be attractive and accessible to create an inner city in which people, like before, want to live work and spend time.

The goal is to transform Willemstad into a vibrant city by:

Encouraging public, private and public/private projects of different scales of magnitude to strengthen the different identities;
Creating new ways of living and residing in the inner city;
Facilitating easy access by car and public transportation into the city, supported by the centralization of parking facilities;
Making the city more pleasant and attractive for walking and biking; and
Greening of the inner city.

UNESCO World Heritage City

With no less than 760 protected monuments, Willemstad deserves its place on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The four historical districts in the city, Punda, Otrobanda, Pietermaai and Scharloo, each have their own unique history and character and show great diversity in their urban layout and architecture. The buildings and monuments have European details, reminiscent of the Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese cities with which Willemstad collaborated.

Socio-economic potential

There is a great diversity in the investment projects on offer, starting at EUR 200,000 up to EUR 15 million. The volume of tourists and the variation in the type of projects create opportunities in the fields of food & beverage, tourism, residential and cultural projects. These may be geared to many different users and target groups, as owner, operator, developer or renter.

Next to the fiscal incentives (no transfer tax, waiving of tax on dividend and interest, tax holiday, incl. exemption of import duties) there are also subsidies available for the restoration of monuments (up to 60% of the restoration cost). All of this make Willemstad so much more attractive to investors and entrepreneurs, also evidenced by the large amount of monuments that have already been restored. New investments and entrepreneurial vigor strongly support the transformation to vibrant city center.

Cultural Willemstad

There are also a ton of opportunities in a cultural sense. Not only should the city center be filled with shops, restaurants and hotels, but there is great emphasis on the cultural entrepreneurs; galleries, local arts & crafts producers, art studios, museums and more. These initiatives and businesses are woven together in a network that can be easily be explored by foot.