Plaza de Matapalo
In year 2 of the World House Project, the IwB began a partnership with the Costa Rican Ministries of Culture and Housing. The Government of Costa Rica asked the Iwb to create models for sustainable communities in the new investment hotspot of Guanacaste. Matapalo, a small town in western Guanacaste, served as a case study community within the Reserva Conchal catchment areas. Using the case study of Matapalo, an extensive proposal for the Matapalo Town Square was developed that is outlined in the Plaza de Matapalo: The World House Project Costa Rica book. The proposal offered a new vision for co-creating a revitalized town square in Matapalo that includes a complete redesign of the square that serves the needs of both residents and visitors that includes a new market shelter and carts, a new bus shelter, landscape redesign using diverse local plants, a rainwater collection system for irrigation and stormwater management, an event board, a playground as well as many other improvements. Developed using the World House Matrix, the plan levers a systems approach and community engagement to develop public spaces incrementally over time.