This report is the final thesis and the conclusion of the final project that was done during the spring semester of 2009, in the city of Santo Domingo, The Dominican Republic, West Indies by Caroline Knutsson and Kristina Myrberg.

The project is based on the field studies that are done in the investigation together with the information from interviews from the construction sites and the collected information from the research. The focus is concentrated in an investigation about the construction techniques that are used, the building materials and the working conditions on the construction site. A study has been done of a Swedish model of urban planning with environmental objects (SAMS), made by the National Board of Housing, Building and Planning (Boverket), and successively applied in a project in South Africa. With the purpose of investigate if it is possible to apply the same model in the Dominican Republic, a review of the current environmental- and urban planning in the country has been done.  Through the studies we think that an introduction of planning with environmental objectives and a development towards a sustainable and ecological society is possible in the Dominican Republic.

After field studies on the construction sites, it was relevant to discuss the working conditions and the safety for the constructers.

The thesis also deal with the waste problem, since it is a problem that is not taken care of neither in the building sector or in the society. The suggestion is to recycle and reuse more of the waste, especially all the concrete that is used in the buildings. Sweden have come a long way ahead in the questions of sustainable housing and ecological building, to spare and reduce the effect the building sector has on the environment. This is questions of more importance than ever today, when we are seeing the effects of the climate change in the world. An investigation is done of the possibility to apply any of the methods that are used in Sweden today to make the housing more sustainable and environmentally friendly, also in The Dominican Republic. The result is some suggestions of methods and technologies that might be applicable in the Dominican Republic.