Buenos Aires Trying To Keep Up With Growth

"Buenos Aires is putting the brakes on construction after a four-year boom overstretched water, electricity and sewage services -- and prompted residents to protest the destruction of their barrios.

City Hall has a moratorium on new building permits for six neighborhoods to prevent developers, spurred by surging residential real estate prices, from ripping down two-story houses to build apartment buildings."

"A construction boom helped fuel annual economic growth of more than 8 percent and boosted employment as Argentina recovered from a recession that ended in 2002. The expansion of housing hasn't been matched by the providers of electricity and water services, said Leonardo Chialva, an economist at Delphos Investment, an economic research company in Buenos Aires."