Lima

Government

The provinces of Lima and Callao, each with its own government, make up the Lima metropolitan area. There are 45 municipal districts, including the capital district of Lima, within the metropolitan area. Each district is administratively autonomous, with a mayor and city council. Each district generates revenues, such as property taxes, to provide services to its citizens. The arrangement has created huge inequalities in the metropolitan area. Wealthy neighborhoods like Miraflores provide relatively good services to its citizens. But some of the pueblos jovenes (young towns) cannot even raise enough revenue to provide bare necessities, like paved roads and water.

The unwieldy arrangement makes regional planning difficult. Any action requires negotiated decisions among districts. A Metropolitan Council for Greater Lima, made up of district mayors, was supposed to facilitate regional cooperation. But local districts do not want to give up their autonomy. Leaders have called for greater intervention from the national government, but that is unlikely.