Maria Camila Uribe: Lessons from Latin America's Urban Transformation

Maria Camila Uribe, Principal Technical Lead for Housing and Urban Development and Coordinator of the IDB Cities Network at the Inter-American Development Bank, joins us on The Century of Cities. She explains how rapid urbanization, democratization, and decentralization shaped the lives of hundreds of millions, leaving legacies of both ingenuity and inequality. From informal settlements to bold planning reforms, Maria outlines how Latin American cities became hubs of creativity, civic leadership, and problem-solving under pressure. She reveals groundbreaking work underway at the IDB, including a new financing pilot allowing cities to borrow directly without sovereign guarantees, and the urgent efforts to strengthen Amazonian cities ahead of COP30. With clarity and optimism, she highlights why Latin America continues to pioneer urban innovations and how empowered local leaders can reshape the future of an entire region.