Rafaela () is a city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, about 96 km from the provincial capital. It is the head town of the

Castellanos Department The Castellanos Department (in Spanish language, Spanish, ''Departamento Castellanos'') is an administrative subdivision (''Departments of Argentina, departamento'') of the provinces of Argentina, province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe, Argentina. ...

. It has a population of 99,150 per the . The city was established in 1881 by Guillermo Lehmann, and officially became a city in 1913. The city has grown 22.2% between 1991 and 2001, and 18.6% in the last census period (2001-2011) according to the official data of the Population Census ( INDEC). The city is almost the exact antipode of Wuhu in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The city hosts

Rafaela Aerodrome Rafaela Aerodrome ( es, Aeródromo de Rafaela) is an airport serving Rafaela, a city in the Santa Fe Province of Argentina. The airport is on the south side of the city. It features a small passenger terminal, due to be rebuilt or upgraded, and ...

airport and the Autódromo Ciudad de Rafaela race track.

Zoning of the city

The city is located in the western-center area of Santa Fe Province and has an area of . The design of most of the urban area of the city has a shape of a checkerboard with the main plaza (Plaza 25 de mayo) in the middle of the city and four main boulevards coming from there. The street grid of the city is composed by square blocks in most part of the neighborhoods, mainly in the historical and older part of the city. CM 20151206 125148

The city has 37 neighborhoods and the downtown area (called Microcentro in Spanish) as the map of the city shows. Catedral de Rafaela

Role of citizen participation in planning

In 2008 the municipality of Rafaela created the Department of Administration and Participation (Secretaria de Gestión y Participación, SGP) and after that the government started implementing a process of Participatory budgeting, based on the successful case of Porto Alegre. The main goal of this process is to consolidate and strengthen the importance of citizen participation in the public agenda. The government of the city has implemented the method for three consecutive years. The first one in 2009 was completed; the one for 2010 is now in the stage of implementing the public works that resulted from the participation process; and the third project is in process (SGP, Municipalidad de Rafaela, 2011).

Climate

Notable people

* Hermes Binner, twice mayor of

Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central provinces of Argentina, Argentine province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous ci ...

and former governor of Santa Fe province. * Javier Frana, professional tennis player * Ricardo Lorenzetti, president elect of the Argentine Supreme Court of Justice * Sebastián Porto, former professional motorcycle racer * María Emilia Salerni, professional tennis player * Martín Basso, professional TC racer *

Lucas Aveldaño Lucas Elio Aveldaño (born 19 July 1985) is an Argentine footballer who plays for Spanish Segunda Federación side CE Andratx as a centre-back. Career Aveldaño began his playing career in 2005 with Atlético de Rafaela Asociación Mutual So ...

, professional soccer player * Silvia Bertolaccini, former LPGA professional golf player and current ESPN announcer for Latin America *

Denis Stracqualursi Denis Andrés Stracqualursi (born 20 October 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Unión de Sunchales. Career Stracqualursi started his playing career in ...

, professional soccer player currently at

Everton F.C. Everton Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Liverpool that competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club was a founder member of the Football League in 1888 and has compe ...

* Grillo Demo, contemporary artist *

Axel Werner Axel Wilfredo Werner (born 28 February 1996) is an Argentine professional footballer as a goalkeeper for Rosario Central, on loan from Spanish club Elche CF. Club career Atlético Rafaela Born in Rafaela, Werner was an Atlético Rafaela youth g ...

, professional footballer who plays for Spanish club Málaga CF on loan from Atlético Madrid as a goalkeeper.

Twin towns – sister cities

Rafaela is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: * Fossano, Italy * Sigmaringendorf, Germany

References

External links

*
Rafaela.comCity PortalAsociación Médica del Departamento Castellanos
{{Authority control Urban planning in Argentina Populated places in Santa Fe Province Populated places established in 1881 Cities in Argentina 1881 establishments in Argentina