Downtown Santo Domingo

Downtown Santo Domingo or better known as Polígono Central (English: Central Polygon) is a term used to group several neighborhoods located in central Santo Domingo, D.N, Dominican Republic defined as the area delineated by John F Kennedy Avenue (also known as DR-1) on the north, on the west by Wiston Churchill avenue, on the east by Maximo Gomez avenue, and on the south by 27 de Febrero avenue (also known as DR-3).

The downtown area forms the core of the city of Santo Domingo which includes the neighborhoods of Naco, Piantini, Paraiso, and Yolanda Morales. This central polygon, as the name implies, serves as the main economic and business center of the city. The neighborhoods within the bounds of Downtown are granted higher-desinty zoning by the Ayuntamiento del Distrito Nacional. Some of the most affluent neighborhoods of Santo Domingo are located within the downtown even as growth has overflowed to other locations outside the area. Piantini, Naco, & Paraiso all experience high levels of urbanization and better than average quality of life. The area is mostly composed of mixed-development zoning having most of the commercial zoning on the main avenues while having mostly residential zoning in the inner streets.

Some of the most important avenues of the city are located in the Polígono Central including Wiston Churchill avenue with very high banking and commercial activity, and Abraham Lincoln avenue serving as the main thoroughfare of the city-center. Since the late 1990s a general trend of vertical growth has been experienced throughout the area creating complications of traffic and lack of appropriate infrastructure to handle the higher density levels. Most of Downtown Santo Domingo does not have the adequate infrastructure to handle high-density office and residential buildings and until the late 1990s it was mostly composed of large family homes and low-rise buildings. Rapid urbanization has led to solutions like the new Santo Domingo Metro and the creation of two express urban corridors to the north and south of Downtown.