{"id":398,"date":"2018-10-26T10:36:39","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T09:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/cities-challenges-and-management\/?p=398"},"modified":"2018-10-26T10:36:39","modified_gmt":"2018-10-26T09:36:39","slug":"medellin-a-story-of-transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/cities-challenges-and-management\/2018\/10\/26\/medellin-a-story-of-transformation\/","title":{"rendered":"Medell\u00edn: A Story of Transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, from October 15 to 21, Barcelona\u2019s City Council organized the first \u201cOpen City Biennial of Thought\u201d (\u201cCiutat Oberta Biennal de pensament<\/em>\u201d<\/a>), with the aim to \u201clink the debate on the role of today’s cities with the big challenges facing contemporary society.\u201d More than 20,000 people participated in 69 activities<\/a>, including talks, debates and conferences in topics ranging from inequality, gentrification and exclusion, to innovation and creativity. As part of the Biennial, a CIDOB Breakfast with Sergio Fajardo<\/a>, former Mayor of Medell\u00edn (2004-2007) was organized.<\/p>\n

Here at IESE Cities in Motion we are developing a case study on the transformation of the city of Medell\u00edn, whose provisional title is Medell\u00edn\u2019s Transformation: Toward a More Equitable, Innovative and Participatory Urban Society <\/em>(Ricart, Berrone, Duch). The city of Medell\u00edn, Colombia, is often considered a success story and an international benchmark for urban transformation and social innovation. Once considered the \u201cMurder Capital of the World\u201d, by the end of last century, the Colombian city had very high levels of poverty, inequality and social exclusion. However, in only two decades, Medell\u00edn has managed to transform itself into a safer, more inclusive and prosperous place that receives international attention and recognition, such as being named \u201cthe world\u2019s most innovative city<\/a>\u201d in 2012 or winning the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize in 2016<\/a>, for its sustainable urban design.<\/p>\n

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Medellin Metrocable<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Key ingredients for the city\u2019s transformation<\/strong><\/p>\n

By the late 1990s and the beginning of 2000s, some early signs of transformation emerged in the city, such as the opening of Metro de Medell\u00edn in 1995 – the first and only subway network in Colombia. However, many people consider the election of Sergio Fajardo in 2003 as the tipping point for the city\u2019s real transformation. During last week\u2019s debate in Barcelona, Fajardo highlighted some of the elements that were key in achieving such transformation.<\/p>\n

Connectivity<\/u><\/em><\/p>\n

Actions and initiatives to enhance connectivity, both from the point of view of physical connectivity and by giving excluded people competences, have been critical to reduce poverty and inequality and increase social inclusion.<\/p>\n

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Medell\u00edn Outdoor Escalators<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

First, in terms of physical connectivity, urban projects such as the Medell\u00edn Metrocable<\/em> – the world\u2019s first cable car system for public transport designed to integrate the city\u2019s low-income residents living in the poorest neighborhoods, which clung to the valley\u2019s sides, with Medell\u00edn\u2019s wealthier commercial center -; or the San Javier outdoor escalators<\/em> – public outdoor escalators built to connect one of the poorest and most violent neighborhoods on steep hills to the city center -, are probably two of the most well-known examples of Medell\u00edn\u2019s urban transformations.<\/p>\n

With these simple innovative transformations of the urban public space, it was possible to break down the isolation of some of the poorest areas and enhance equity and justice at the same time.<\/p>\n

Education<\/u><\/em><\/p>\n

Additionally, giving people competences and skills to be able to reduce social and economic gaps has been essential in the city\u2019s makeover. The idea that education drives change and that it can be a powerful tool for reducing inequalities has been at the core of Fajardo\u2019s administration policies, both as Mayor of Medell\u00edn and as Governor of Antioquia. Programs such as \u201cMedell\u00edn, la m\u00e1s educada\u201d (\u201cMedell\u00edn, the most educated<\/em>\u201d), a public program started during Fajardo\u2019s administration (2004-2007) and continued by his successor, Mayor Alonso Salazar (2008-2011), aimed at the use of education \u2013 especially early childhood and primary education – as a means to reduce poverty and inequality and to fully harness the potential of people and communities.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Medell\u00edn has become an inspiration for urban transformation around the world, especially for cities in developing countries with high levels of inequality and exclusion. The city has succeed in increasing social, economic and territorial inclusion by, among others, focusing on the improvement of public spaces, enhancing physical connectivity, and expanding education. Most certainly, the city still faces important challenges in terms of poverty, inequality and social inclusion. Nonetheless, Medell\u00edn\u2019s remarkable progress also offers a positive example of urban transformation with social innovation at the heart of its change.<\/p>\n

Have you ever been to Medell\u00edn? Let us know your thoughts on the comments section below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, from October 15 to 21, Barcelona\u2019s City Council organized the first \u201cOpen City Biennial of Thought\u201d (\u201cCiutat Oberta Biennal de pensament\u201d), with the aim to \u201clink the debate on the role of today’s cities with the big challenges facing contemporary society.\u201d More than 20,000 people participated in 69 activities, including talks, debates and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2104,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[326,417,981,101242],"tags":[],"coauthors":[101245,101244],"class_list":["post-398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-practices","category-cities","category-leadership","category-urban-governance","megacategoria-governance","megacategoria-mc-strategy"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/cities-challenges-and-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/cities-challenges-and-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/cities-challenges-and-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/cities-challenges-and-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/cities-challenges-and-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=398"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/cities-challenges-and-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":417,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/cities-challenges-and-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/398\/revisions\/417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/cities-challenges-and-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/cities-challenges-and-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/cities-challenges-and-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=398"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/cities-challenges-and-management\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}