Curaçao is experiencing a construction boom unlike anything seen in decades. Everywhere one looks, there are cranes, trucks carrying construction materials, cleared plots of land and new buildings rising from the ground.
But behind this apparent economic activity lies a troubling question: who is actually planning the future of the island?
Increasingly, the answer appears to be no one.
Residents are starting to notice what can only be described as a tsunami of construction. Projects are appearing across the island at a pace that seems disconnected from any clear national strategy. During election periods, jokes circulated that if you voted for certain political parties, obtaining a building permit would become easy. At the time it sounded like political exaggeration. Today it no longer feels like a joke.
According to statements by Minister of Traffic, Transport and Urban Planning Charles Cooper, more than 500 building permits were issued in 2025 alone.
The result is visible everywhere. Giant trucks move across the island all day long transporting construction materials. Hotels, apartment buildings and large residential developments are appearing almost overnight. Yet Parliament remains largely silent about what this means for the island’s long-term development.
A recent example illustrates the problem perfectly. Last week a groundbreaking ceremony was held for a large “pods resort” development near Jan Thiel. The project will consist of hundreds of small housing units marketed as investment properties. Prices reportedly start around 210,000 euros — roughly 440,000 guilders.
In theory, local residents could buy them. In reality, most cannot.
For the majority of Curaçao’s population, these properties are simply out of reach. That raises an obvious question: if local residents cannot afford them, who exactly are these developments being built for?
The pods resort is far from unique. Across the island, luxury hotels, apartment complexes and investment properties are being built at a rapid pace. Much of it is concrete, expensive and disconnected from the housing needs of the average resident.
Meanwhile, infrastructure is struggling to keep up.
Take the Caracasbaaiweg, the main road leading to Jan Thiel. Traffic congestion there has become a daily reality. What used to be rush-hour traffic has now turned into near constant gridlock, even on weekends. But the problem extends far beyond that one road.
Major routes such as the Santa Rosaweg and the Weg naar Westpunt are also increasingly congested during large parts of the day.
And while residents sit in traffic, more green areas disappear, replaced by new developments.
Then there is the issue of parking. When building permits are issued without strict requirements for parking spaces or infrastructure capacity, the outcome is predictable. Cars end up parked everywhere — along roads, in residential neighborhoods and in areas never designed for heavy traffic.
When authorities later respond by towing vehicles or enforcing parking rules, it may appear as action. In reality it is simply treating the symptoms of a deeper problem.
The real issue is the absence of a clear development policy.
Curaçao urgently needs a national conversation about spatial planning, infrastructure capacity, housing affordability and environmental protection. Without such a plan, the island risks becoming a patchwork of disconnected projects driven solely by short-term investment interests.
Construction itself is not the problem. Growth and investment are necessary for any economy.
But growth without planning eventually becomes chaos.
And if Curaçao continues building at this pace without a long-term vision, the island may soon discover that the price of uncontrolled development is paid not by investors — but by the people who live here every day.