The urban dream of living in front of a white sand beach is now a reality. In Argentina, forty “crystal lagoons”, the top amenities when it comes to luxury services.
These lagoons that are sold as a paradise of turquoise waters, white sands and palm trees are the new trend and its main developer is an internationally registered brand, Crystal Lagoons. The technology was perfected by the Chilean biochemist Ferdinand Fischman, which was inspired by the clear blue waters he saw in natural lagoons when he visited Mexico and the Caribbean. After years of research, he patented the technology to design and maintain the world’s largest artificial lagoons at low cost. These water mirrors became the “Chilean unicorn” with billions of dollars in profits. The illusion of “living on a beach” became a reality.
In construction
In Argentina, the projected neighborhoods with lagoons are found in the cities of Tigre, Pilar –tres–, Luján, Canning, Ezeiza, Berazategui, Don Torcuato, Córdoba and Pinamar. In all of them, that “differential amenity” is offered, as one of its main developers in the country calls it, the businesswoman Miracles Brito, who through his Grupo Vizora builds the Rowers Beach neighborhood of Tigre. At its premiere, the success was such that Brito said that he sold “a hundred apartments in two days.” The event was attended by personalities from the environment such as Verónica Lozano, Agustina Lecouna and the former governor of Salta Juan Manuel Urtubeywith his wife, the actress Isabel Macedo. Today the neighborhood and the lagoon are still under construction. From its administration they announce its opening for December 2022.
The judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado In 2017, it ordered a review of the environmental impact permits for all the neighborhoods anchored to the banks of the Luján River, which included reservoirs, dredging, excavations, lagoons, diversion of watercourses and modification of the coasts. The works stopped. Neighbors and NGOs denounced that these would negatively affect the ecosystem since they settle on wetlands, necessary to filter and balance the flow of water. The movement of earth and diversion of courses could cause flooding and the impact on the aquifers was not known, with the use of chemicals to clarify the water. Over time, the developers were obtaining the respective permits and continued with the works, despite the economic damage that this delay produced in the investors’ finances. And just as the detractors fought for the conservation of the environment, many residents of the area celebrated the creation of these production units for the positive impact it has on the labor market. Each of these “oases” creates hundreds of jobs.
La Mansa, “your sustainable city”, on the other hand, is located at the entrance of Pinamar. It is one step away from real beaches like Ostende, Valeria del Mar and Cariló, but this detail does not stop investors or buyers. It has 267 total hectares. This neighborhood was pointed out by environmental organizations that denounced that a lagoon has lost its flow because an illegal dam was created that diverts the water. Its developers say that this is not the case and that the lagoon will be fed with surface water and rainwater. The company obtained the permits and continues its construction.
The architect Paul Gates He says that he does not agree with environmentalists on many issues, but he supports them with regard to this type of project since “they destroy wetlands and, beyond changing the landscape, they destroy the ecosystem.” As a builder, he understands that “it will be very difficult for them to maintain the white sands and the palm trees.”
Biodiversity is not projected in the master plans, there are no native trees, no fish, no birds, no overo lizards. This lack of foresight suggests that in time all its original inhabitants will return home and bathers will sunbathe among capybaras, as in Nordelta.
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