Social urbanism in Medellín: social dynamics between public policies and community activism
Social urbanism in Medellín: social dynamics between public policy and community activism. Jota Samper Ph.D. https://publications.iadb.org/en/citizen-led-urbanism-latin-america-superbook-civic-actions-transforming-cities In the 1990s, as the United States was bombing Baghdad, Medellín was the most dangerous city in the world. Since 2003, the city has undergone an internationally renowned urban transformation, part of a nationwide peace process. Implemented under several consecutive mayor administrations (04-07, 08-11, 12-14), the city, now perceived as an entirely different place with a homicide rate ten times lower, is seen as an example of how to engage with conflict and violence through spatial and urban policies. Today the city’s spatial practices have become the model for intervening in cities where a large concentration of informal settlements and challenges of scarcity of resources exist. To this process of “Medellin’s Transformation,” planners, politicians, and media have
