Cluster, infrastructure and city marketing. Medellín 1995-2013

Abstract

This research article analyses the cluster strategy contribution towards the urban transformation process in Medellin (1995-2013). The cluster strategy emerges in 1995 within the Monitor program. The following years witness a public-private articulation process that fosters the creation of Medellín, mi empresa (2005). Years later, this initiative evolves into a local public policy, defined under the Acuerdo 087 de 2009 of the Concejo Municipal, named Medellín, ciudad clúster. The actions followed by local governments aim at positioning the city as competitive, through the creation of an urbanistic platforms, a business network and a discourse based on market development. This intertwined functioning generates a cycle, that could be interpreted as an spiral with relation to the cluster. The advance of an individual shackle pushes the rest forwards, consolidating the cycle. This process, in turn, strengthens the strategy and impacts Medellín's transformation.