Planning for mobility and socio-environmental justice: The case of Medellín, Colombia

Abstract

In 2004, Medellín, Colombia’s second largest city, implemented the world’s first modern urban aerial cable-car public transport system. The impetus and subsequent history of this initiative are marked, on the one hand, by a commitment to social urbanism and spatial justice, and on the other hand, by neo-liberal elements related to making the city more nationally, regionally and globally more competitive. As a relatively cheap, clean and highly visible response to urban transport problems, it has attracted widespread attention from city authorities throughout Latin America, Europe and Asia. It was followed by major participatory neighbourhood upgrading process, comprising new social housing, schools and other social infrastructure, as well as support to micro-enterprises. The combination of these interventions has helped upgrade some parts of the city’s fabric marked for years by severe poverty and violence. These interventions sought to address the huge spatial inequalities between these neighbourhoods and the rest of the formal city, but have they made Medellín a more resilient and environmentally just city? Through an examination of three principles of social justice-redistribution, reciprocal recognition and political participation-this chapter explores the relationship between resilience and environmental justice as a result of the institutional, socio-economic and political factors implicated in the planning process and impact of the aerial cable-car and related interventions under the rubrique of social urbanism in Medellín.