Avenida 2 in San Jose, Costa Rica will be a target of San Jose Posible.

SAN JOSE, April 30 — San José Posíble, a re-urbanization and beautification plan executed by San Jose’s two-time mayor Johnny Araya, will now include the construction of a Chinatown in downtown San Jose along the Paseo de los Estudiantes. The mayor, who recently traveled to China, announced the plan on Monday after securing a $2.5 million donation from the Chinese government to work on the second stage of San José Posíble. China will also supply architectural support to design the Chinese neighborhood in traditional Chinese iconic form.

Araya hopes that the Chinese cultural center will become a big attraction in the city center with restaurants, stores, supermarkets and art galleries. The Chinese population in Costa Rica has been present for more than 200 years and continues to grow today, adding to the diversity of the country. This region will help to shed light on their cultural identity so that the Costa Rican population and visitors have the chance to better appreciate and understand it.

The first phase of the San José Posíble project, coined the “Paseo Colon Tourist Corridor” is already underway. It includes reconstructing Avenues 10, 8 and 3 out of concrete, lengthening the Pedestrian Walkway on Central Avenue and adding parking lots with overnight parking along 2nd Avenue and Paseo Colon. The hope is to facilitate better movement of traffic and to invite tourists and pedestrians back into the area in hopes that new restaurants, stores and hotels will foresee the advantage and move in.

Beyond beautifying the area and strategically facilitating the arrival of pedestrians, Araya also promises to fight the crime and theft that seems to be growing in the region. He said they will continue to invest in security, promote security alarms, improve police equipment, including the introduction of more vehicles, motorcycles and bikes for use by the police force.