Rafaela () is a city in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

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, ''Departamento Castellanos'') is an administrative subdivision ('' departamento'') of the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located in the center-west of the province. It has about 162,000 inhabitants a ...

. 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 National Institute of Statistics and Censuses ( es, link=no, Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos; INDEC) is an Argentine decentralized public body that operates within the Ministry of Economy, which exercises the direction of all of ...

). The city is almost the exact antipode of

Wuhu Wuhu () is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Anhui province, China. Sitting on the southeast bank of the Yangtze River, Wuhu borders Xuancheng to the southeast, Chizhou and Tongling to the southwest, Hefei city to the northwest, Ma'anshan ...

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 The Autódromo Ciudad de Rafaela is a motor racing circuit in Rafaela, Santa Fe, Argentina built in 1952 and paved in 1966. Owner The venue – owned by Atlético de Rafaela – hosted the ''500 Millas Argentinas'' race until 1971. The USA ...

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 Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, twelfth most populous city in the country ...

. 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 Hermes Juan Binner (June 5, 1943 − June 26, 2020) was an Argentine physician and a politician. He was Governor of Santa Fe from 2007 to 2011.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 Javier Alberto Frana (born 25 December 1966) is a former tennis player from Argentina and former tennis commentator for ESPN Latin America. He won 1996 French Open Mixed Doubles title with compatriot Patricia Tarabini. Tennis career Frana turn ...

, professional tennis player *

Ricardo Lorenzetti Ricardo Luis Lorenzetti (born 19 September 1955) is an Argentine judge graduated from the National University of the Littoral, Argentina, with a long national and international career. He used to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Argentina ...

, president elect of the Argentine Supreme Court of Justice *

Sebastián Porto Sebastián Porto (born September 12, 1978 as Sebastián Porco) is an Argentine professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He currently races in the Brazilian Moto 1000 GP Championship aboard a BMW S1000RR. Career Early career Born in Rafa ...

, former professional motorcycle racer *

María Emilia Salerni María Emilia Salerni (born 14 May 1983), known as "Pitu Salerni", is a former professional tennis player from Argentina. On 25 February 2008, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 65. On 23 September 2002, she peaked at No. 45 in t ...

, professional tennis player *

Martín Basso Martín Basso (born July 26, 1974 in Cordoba) is an Argentine racing driver. He has race in different series, with major success in Formula Three Sudamericana and TC 2000. He also spent two seasons in the United States, driving in the Toyota A ...

, professional TC racer * Lucas Aveldaño, professional soccer player *

Silvia Bertolaccini Silvia Bertolaccini (born 30 January 1950) is an Argentine professional golfer who played on the LPGA Tour. Bertolaccini was born in Rafaela, Santa Fe. She won the Argentine and Colombian amateur championships before turning professional and mo ...

, 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 footballer who plays as a forward for Unión de Sunchales. Career Stracqualursi started his playing career in 2007 with Unión de Sunchales in the 3rd division ...

, professional soccer player currently at Everton F.C. *

Grillo Demo Victor Hugo 'Grillo' Demo is an Argentine artist. Demo left Argentina in 1978 and settled in Ibiza, Spain, where he continues his work. He is known for his jasmine paintings, depicting falling jasmine. Kate Moss, Madonna and Elle Macpherson ...

, contemporary artist * Axel Werner, professional footballer who plays for Spanish club Málaga CF on loan from Atlético Madrid as a goalkeeper.

Twin towns – sister cities

Rafaela is twinned with: *

Fossano Fossano ( pms, Fossan) is a town and ''comune'' of Piedmont, northern Italy. It is the fourth largest town of the Province of Cuneo, after Cuneo, Alba and Bra. It lies on the main railway line from Turin to Cuneo and to Savona, and has a branch li ...

, Italy *

Sigmaringendorf Sigmaringendorf is a small town in the district of Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. In Sigmaringendorf the small river ''Lauchert'' flows into the Danube. There is an open-air-theatre in Sigmaringendorf, it's called Waldbühne Sigma ...

, 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