Mention Belmopan, Belize’s capital which lies in the country’s interior, and many Belizeans will belittle the city as a bastion of pencil-busting bureaucrats that is not only boring, but also devoid of nightlife.
“They warned me, ‘Belmopan is for the newlyweds or the almost dead,’” Raquel Rodriguez, 45, an art school owner, said of the reactions when she moved to Belmopan from the coast of Belize City .
Not exactly known as an Eden for young citizens, Belmopan ranks among the smallest capitals in the Americas. It has only about 25,000 residents and a cluster of hurricane-proof, concrete-filled, Mayan-inspired homes. Brutalist buildings.
The capital of Central America’s only English-speaking nation can seem starkly different from the bustling capitals of neighboring countries. In terms of origins and design, Belmopan has more in common with the capitals of other former British colonies, especially in Africa.
But Belmopan is also, perhaps, a prism through which to view the development of Belize, which has emerged as something of an exception in Central America. In a region where rulers are embracing authoritarian tactics, Belize has developed into a relatively stable (if young) parliamentary democracy with a history of peaceful transitions of power.
The sometimes serenely calm capital boasts a reputation for safety and quality of life. In a sparsely populated country of fewer than half a million people, Belmopan’s welcoming atmosphere also showcases Belize’s extraordinary ethnic diversity and its propensity to absorb migrants from other parts of Central America.
Consider the open-air market where many residents purchase food. Street vendors greet customers in Belize’s official language, English or Kriol, the patois formed centuries ago when the British brought enslaved Africans to what is now Belize.
Other vendors speak Mayan languages such as KekchiMopan e Yucatec, highlighting indigenous people who have long lived in Belize or who moved to the country from Guatemala or Mexico. Reflecting different waves of migration, others ply their trade in Spanish, Chinese or Plautdietschan archaic Germanic language influenced by Dutch.
Like many others in Belmopan, Johan Guenther, 71, a Mennonite farmer, was from somewhere else. He was born in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, home to large Mennonite communities, and arrived in Belize at age 16.
He then tried his luck in Bolivia for a while, but decided he preferred the quieter lifestyle of Belize. He lives with his wife in a small agricultural settlement outside Belmopan, coming to the capital to sell cheese, butter, cream and honey at the market.
“I’m not a city man, but I like Belmopan,” Mr. Guenther said in a mix of English, Plautdietsch and Spanish. “He IS calm, great for selling my produce, easy in and easy out.”
Making Belmopan a hub of agricultural development in Belize’s interior and a refuge from natural disasters was a major concern when British colonialists developed plans to build the town after Hurricane Hattie in 1961 devastated the old capital, Belize City, leaving hundreds of deaths.
At that time, planned cities were popping up in various parts of the world, a trend accentuated by the inauguration in 1960 of Brazil’s futuristic capital, Brasilia. In the disintegrating British Empire, especially in Africa, including the new capitals Dodomain Tanzania; Gaborone, in Botswana; AND Lilongwe, in Malawi. The designers imagined them largely, like Belmopan, as “garden city” with large open spaces, parks and pedestrian paths.
Political tensions have shaped the city’s plans. George Price, the architect of Belize’s independence, saw the building of Belmopan as a way to forge a sense of national identity transcendent ethnic differences. And with Guatemala laying claim to Belize in a territorial dispute that persists to this day, Belize’s colonial rulers chose a site halfway between Belize City and the Guatemalan border in an effort to populate the interior.
Sturdy concrete government buildings like the National Assembly evoke the pyramidal structure of a Mayan temple, perched on an artificial mound where breezes might cool the structure. They were designed to be hurricane resistant and economical, avoiding the need for air conditioning at the time.
At the same time, the authorities tried to attract civil servants to Belmopan by offering them houses, essentially in the form of concrete shells, on the streets where people of different economic backgrounds were supposed to live.
“Belmopan is a social experiment,” said John Milton Arana, 51, a Belizean architect whose family moved here in 1975. Noting the paths that still connect residential areas to Belmopan’s concrete-laden core, he added : “The pedestrian was the priority of this vision.”
However, Arana says the slow-moving city can also be disorientating with its roundabouts, ring roads and lack of bustling shopping areas. “People come to see me and ask me, ‘Where is the center?’” Mr. Arana said. “I tell them, ‘You just got over it.’”
Not all are sold on Belmopan. Tourists tend to overlook the city, preferring to snorkel near remote islands or stunning Mayan archaeological sites. When Belmopan opened in 1970, it was expected to grow rapidly to a population of 30,000, a figure it has still not reached more than fifty years later.
Some attribute this slow growth to perennial budget constraints that give Belmopan a perpetually unfinished appearance. The fortress-like structures where many civil servants work are showing their age, adorned with noisy air conditioners; Airy new buildings like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a gift from the Taiwanese government filled with hanging gardens, show how authorities have moved away from Belmopan’s spartan origins.
Mr. Arana, the architect, said deviations from Belmopan’s original plans were changing the city for the worse. Rampant development outside the core areas, he said, particularly where Spanish-speaking migrants from neighboring El Salvador and Guatemala have settled, has highlighted problems such as substandard housing and untreated sewage.
Opinions on Belmopan are divided among diplomats. Countries such as Panama and Guatemala, along with the autonomous island of Taiwan, maintain their embassies in Belize City, which has more than double the population of Belmopan. Even after Belize gained full independence in 1981, it took the United States 25 years to move its embassy to Belmopan.
Michelle Kwan, U.S. ambassador to Belize and a decorated Olympic figure skater, said she became fond of Belmopan after moving from Los Angeles. She compared her life here to her days training in Lake Arrowhead, a small resort community in California’s San Bernardino Mountains, where she could “really focus on what I had to do.”
“It’s no different here,” Ms. Kwan said. “This is where we focus and work.”
Others in Belmopan suggest that the city has helped forge a multicultural Belizean identity incorporating Mayan peoples and new Latino immigrants that is distinct from that of Belize City, known more as a bastion of Kriols, people of African and British descent.
“Belmopan has made our cultural divides less pronounced,” said Kimberly Stuart, 49, an education professor at the University of Belize, whose main campus is in the capital.
Others complain about some aspects of life in Belmopan. While flashy new homes and flashy new office buildings are altering the capital’s small-town feel, restaurants and bars are still few and tend to close early.
Some in Belmopan say it’s downright boring, but they like it that way. Raj Karki, 52, a Nepalese immigrant who moved to Belize to work on a hydroelectric project, liked the laid-back city so much that he decided to stay and open a restaurant offering South Asian food near government buildings.
“You can come to Belmopan from anywhere in the world,” Mr. Karki said. “In a short time you are welcomed and told: ‘Help us build the future’”.