Rethinking waterscapes Reconstituting the contested agroecological fringe between Chía and Bogotá by Daniela-Garcia-Urbanism

Rethinking waterscapes Reconstituting the contested agroecological fringe between Chía and Bogotá Daniela Carolina García Rojas Thesis presented to obtain the degree: Master of Science of Urbanism, Landscape and Planning Promoted by Kelly Shannon and Bruno De Meulder

Rethinking waterscapes Reconstituting the contested agroecological fringe between Chía and Bogotá Author: Daniela Carolina García Rojas Promoted by Kelly Shannon and Bruno De Meulder Thesis presented to obtain the degree of

Master of Science of Urbanism, Landscape and Planning Faculty of Engineering Sciences, Department of Architecture KU LEUVEN 2021 4

Rethinking waterscapes: Reconstituting the contested agroecological fringe between Chía and Bogotá

Design Thesis Studio 2020-2021 Written by Daniela Carolina García Rojas Promoted by Kelly Shannon and Bruno De Meulder Submitted in Leuven, Belgium, June 2021.

All the images are made by the author unless otherwise credited. Master of Science of Urbanism, Landscape and Planning Department of Architecture Faculty of Engineering Science © Copyright by K.U.Leuven Without written permission of the promotors and the authors it is forbidden to reproduce or adapt in any form or by any means any part of this publication. Requests for obtaining the right to reproduce or utilize parts of this publication should be addressed to: K.U.Leuven, Faculty of Engineering Science Kasteelpark Arenber g 1, B-3001 Heverlee (Belgium). Telephone +32-16-32 88 94 Email: mahs-mausp@kuleuven.be A written permission of the promotor is also required to use the methods, products, schematics and programs described in this work for industrial or commercial use, and for submitting this publication in scientific contests.

Many paths have been traveled to make it possible for me, a third-generation descendant of campesinos who migrated to the city, to present this dissertation. To them: María Estefanía, Luis Antonio, Ana Belén and Siervo De Dios. And to their children: Cecilia and Luis Hernando, that have made all this possible.

Sabana de Bogotá

Abstract The Sabana de Bogotá is facing both ecological and social challenges. This is mainly due to rapid urbanization from Bogotá to the rural areas of the surrounding municipalities, threatening horticultural local practices and the natural bonds of the ecosystems, which is also leading to an increased rainfall flooding risk. There, in the geographical center of Colombia, the unique landscapes are constituted of páramos in the mountains, wetlands on the plateau, forests, and rivers. These humid and fertile conditions lead to the emergence of a strong agricultural tradition since Muisca times. Nevertheless, in the last decades that tradition has been considerably reduced due to urban growth. This thesis focusses on the diffuse border between Chía and Bogotá, where an alarming suburbanization process is taking place. In Chía, extensive areas of wetlands and former farmlands are acquired by real estate developers to build luxury houses and gated communities, as well as new access roads and facilities for those neighborhoods and. The economy of Chía used to be based on floriculture, but it is now transformed into a dormitory town. This is leading to conurbation , loss of ecological and productive land, and the disappearance of the horticultural practices as main source of labor. Instead, real estate development, and the construction business are becoming the motor of Chía’s economy. Additionally, Chía is especially vulnerable to floods due the fact that it is framed by the Bogotá and the Frío Rivers, while its wetlands and absorptive lands have been occupied. In this context, this design by research project looks for a more sustainable interplay between the social needs of Chía with its waterscapes and agroecological features

The project envisions to strengthen the ecological structure and productive capacity of Chía by repairing the ecosystems that naturally absorb and mitigate flooding. Considering the suburbanization process has been consolidated in the area, this project contemplates the constitution of an adaptative system that takes advantage of the local ecologies and the current available (speculation) land, and that will transform the urbanization patterns in the long term. This adaptative system, which is conceptually based in the notion of the rhizome, builds on the logics of farmer’s drainage canals (vallados), microtopography, relicts of forest, orchards, and fertile pastures for the reconstitution of the waterscape. Following such logics, the project aims to provide space to water by integrating the ecosystems of the mountains with the wetlands and rivers in the floodplain through new canals and afforestation. It also seeks to introduce new programs and public spaces to boost rural economies. It proposes to take and protect the “speculation land”, by consolidating them as green areas, for both productive activities and ecological restoration. It increases the productivity and creates spaces for flooding resilience, while introducing a robust framework for new hybrid-settlement typologies and the transformation of the gated communities into denser agglomerations. Considering a rhizome is a never-ending process that takes advantages of opportunities, this thesis envisions a future in which the Colombian land ownership policy, regional planning, urbanism, and the landscape interplay shift the mindset of gated communities, making them part of the proposed new system.

Keywords Rhizomatic design, vallado, de-suburbanization, enhanced soil productivity, Andean-forest integrity, gated communities.

Fig. 1. (Cover page) Photo by Rafael Aponte. Personal archive, taken in March 2021, with an abstraction of the project plan by the author. Fig. 2. (This page) Location of the Sabana de Bogotá in the center of Colombia. World map source: Adapted from File:”Political World” CIA World Factbook map 2005.svg which was originally based on CIA’s 2005 political world map

Introducing the Sabana de

Current contestations in the

Problem statement

Bogotá

face of crises and climate change

- The historically occupied wetland - Demographic and concrete explosion - Productive landscapes of the

- Urbanization over the remanent wetlands and productive lands

- Research questions

- The water claims what belongs to it: flooding risk

- Guideline of the scale

- Hypothesis

- Suburbanization: the risk of conurbation with Chía

Sabana

13 - 24

25 - 36

37 - 44

Situated between the Frío

Visions

Endless rhizome

and the Bogotá rivers - Chía grows over the waterscapes - Heterogeneity of the green lands - Gated communities fragment the tissue - Legitimation of the speculation land - The opportunity for giving back space for water: The vallados system

45 - 68

- A rhizome system for the reconstitution of the waterscape - Layering of the rhizome: Territorial strategies - Sampling the vallados network: a water management rhizome

- Conclusions - Bibliography - Acknowledgments

-Setting the frame for urban transformations: Investments in infrastructure that embrace the landscape will trigger new real estate logics

69 -106

107 - 114

Fig. 3. The Frío River at its cross in the transect area. Photo by Hernando García. Personal archive, taken in March 2021.

Fig. 4. The Frío River at its mouth in the Bogotá River. Photo by Hernando García. Personal archive, taken in March 2021.

Location of Chía 0

5 km

1. Introducing the Sabana de Bogotá

Fig. 5. Water bodies of the Bogotá River Basin. Graphic by the author. Data source: IGAC

1.1. The historically occupied wetland Fig. 6. The three ranges of the Andes in Colombia. Location of the Cundinamarca department

500 km

“Colombia: country of mountains; Bogotá: inner city on a high plain. An effective contact with the outside is only possible by air. The appearance of airplanes constitutes a revolutionary event for the city” (Le Corbusier 1950) 15

Fig. 7. Location of the Sabana de Bogotá in the Cundinamarca department

40 km

Source of figures 6 and 7: Thomas Van der Hammen, and E González. 1960. “Upper Pleistocene and Holocene Climate and Vegetation of the ‘Sabana de Bogotá’ (Colombia, South America).” Leidese Geologische Mededelingen 25. p. 265

Fig. 8. Topography surrounding the Sabana

Fig. 9. Abstraction of the antique lake of the Sabana de Bogotá

10 km

Location of Chía

Source of Fig. 8.: Thomas Van der Hammen, and E González. 1960. “Upper Pleistocene and Holocene Climate and Vegetation of the ‘Sabana de Bogotá’ (Colombia, South America).” Leidese Geologische Mededelingen 25. Anex. Source of Fig. 9. Graphic by the author based on Van der Hammen and González, 1960.

In the heart of the Colombian Andes, it is located the geological formation Altiplano Cundiboyacense. It is a high plateau constituted of three valleys enclosed by the mountains. One of those valleys is known as Sabana de Bogotá (Rojas Bernal et al. 2012, 37). 16

Fig. 10. Geological section of the formation of the Eastern Cordillera of the Colombian Andes (According to E. Hubach)

Inter-Andean Valley of the Magdalena River

Sabana de Bogotá

4000 3500 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0

The Sabana de Bogotá is an ecological region that corresponds to the Bogotá River middle watershed. Situated at 2550 meters above sea level, it is the highest Andean plain in Colombia. The studies about the lacustrine sediment accumulation in this area have demonstrated that a lake existed within the plain during the Pliocene (Van der Hammen and Hooghiemstra 2004, 174). Later, the geological processes and the rise of temperature led to the water from the lake being drained through the Bogota river and its tributaries, and retained into wetland areas (Calderón 2016). 17

Facatativá

Madrid

Magdalena River

meters above sea level

Villeta

The Bogotá River is born in the Guacheneque páramo. It runs 375 km until the municipality of Girardot, where it discharges in the Magdalena River. The Magdalena is the main fluvial artery of Colombia, which connects the high Andes with the Caribbean Sea (Soler López 2018, 18).

Eastern Cordillera of the Andes

Eastern plains Chía

Center of Bogotá

Ubaque

Fómeque

Villavicencio

50 km

Formation of the Sabana Formation of Usme and Gualanday (Eocene - Eocene ) Formation of Bogotá and and equivalents (Paleocene - Eocene ) Formation of Guaduas - Maastrichtian Formation of Guadalupe Fig. 10. Graphic by the author based on Thomas Van der Hammen, and E González. 1960. “Upper Pleistocene and Holocene Climate and Vegetation of the ‘Sabana de Bogotá’ (Colombia, South America).” Leidese Geologische Mededelingen 25. p. 267

Formation of Villeta

Cretaceous

Formation of Cáqieza Paleozoic

Fig. 11. Geographical context of the Sabana de Bogotá with the course of the Magdalena, Bogotá and Frio Rivers highlighted.

Graphic by the author over an aerophotography, Source of the map: Google Earth.

FRÍO RIVE

MAGDALENA RIVER

Girardot 19

280 MSL

Guacheneque Paramo 3300 MSL

Guerrero Paramo

700 MSL

BOGOTÁ RIVER

Chia 2550 MSL

10 km

50 km

100 km

1900 100.000 inhabitants 21

1952 800.000 inhabitants

1.2. Demographic and concrete explosion

The Altiplano Cundiboyacense was inhabited by the Muisca civilization. By the moment of the Spanish arrival in the XVI century, the Muiscas were politically organized in a Confederation that was spatially structured along the Bogotá River. Nevertheless, the Hispanic colonization established its political center close to the Eastern Hills -in the place where the historic center of Bogotá is today- (Broadbent 1981). The Hispanic imposition of the damero grid started a neglection of the relationship of the previous settlements with the waterscape (Colon and Mejia 2019). Today Bogotá has 7.4 million inhabitants, but it is the nuclei of a 11.7 million Metropolitan area that is extended across the Bogotá River watershed. The city is still growing, and the trend suggests that surrounding municipalities will grow as well (DANE 2020) (Rojas, Shannon and De Meulder 2020).

Location of Chía 0

2015 10.000.000 inhabitants

10 km

Fig. 12. Urban growing over the Sabana. Graphic by the author. Data source: IGAC and DANE 2020

1.3. Productive Landscapes of the Sabana The humid nature of the soils of the Sabana de Bogotá creates suitable conditions for agriculture. The Muiscas based their economy on the cultivation of vegetables such as potatoes and onions, typical harvest of the cold high lands (Broadbent 1964). The floodplains of the river were adapted with canalization systems that irrigated and drained the crops. These canals, that foster the frequent run of water, also helped to keep the soil temperature above freezing point. This protected and encouraged agricultural production, as soil and crops are susceptible to frosting in certain moments of the year due to the height and the weather conditions of the Altiplano (Rojas Bernal et al. 2012). With the arrival of the Spanish colonizers, cattle were introduced to the American continent. This started a tradition on which the peasant society of the Sabana is based, but also radically changed the use of the soil (Broadbent 1981). For centuries, cow rising, and the subsequent leather and dairy production and trade were the core of the Sabana´s economy (Beltrán 2008). Nevertheless, during the 20th century the great driving force of the economy, labor, and land occupation has been floriculture. The fertile and humid condition of the land were considered for the establishment of that business in the region, but also its location close to ElDorado, the main airport of Colombia and one of the largest of Latin America, was a key factor (Calderón 2016).

Fig. 13. (Top) One of the first known pictorial representations of the territory of the Sabana de Bogotá. Painted by Juan de Aguilar de Rendón in 1614. Source: Archivo Real de Indias Seville, Spain. Fig. 14. (Bottom) A promiscuous landscape: Bast areas of greenhouses sharing space with grasslands for cattling, farmhouses and luxury “country” villas in Chía. Source: Photo by Rafael Aponte. Personal archive, taken in March 2021.

2. Current contestations in the face of crisis and climate change

2.1. Urbanization over the remanent wetlands and productive lands

The urbanization process has largely colonized the waterbodies of the Sabana. Until the 19th century, Bogotá had linear growth parallel to the Eastern Hills. This urbanization pattern was due to the fact that the western areas, closer to the Bogotá River and remanent wetlands, are flood-prone (Carreira 2007). Nonetheless, demographic growth after the 19th century, and exacerbated in the last decades, led to the manipulation of the water system for building roads and infrastructure, the occupation of fertile land, and the drying of wetland ecosystems for urbanization (Rojas Bernal et al. 2012). Existing urban fabric

In the early 20th century, the local government did not have control over the surrounding areas of the waterbodies, which enabled informal occupations. However, in the last decades both formal and informal housing, mostly of low density, has settled over flood-prone areas (Uribe 2010).

Main ecological structure <80density inhabitants/Ha Low housing 80-200density inhabitants/Ha Medium housing >200 inhabitants/Ha Frío River Bogotá River Wetlands

Fig. 15. Urban densities over the Frío River, the Bogotá River, and the wetlands at the west of Bogotá. Data Source: Adapted from Semillero de investigación Agua + Ciudad. Fase I. Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 2021. P. 54 https://issuu.com/ semilleroaguaciudad/docs/digital_publicacioncompleta-sac_marzo_2021

Location of Chía

10 km

2.2.The water claims what belongs to it: flooding risk The Sabana de Bogotá is a waterscape linked to the páramos in the high mountains, wetlands in the plateau, forests, and rivers. Considering its geological formation as a lake, it is natural that water comes back to a floodplain(Van der Hammen 2004) . Nevertheless, climate change has aggravated the “El Niño” and “La Niña” phenomena, making the first more warm and dry, and the second extremely rainy. “La Niña” and “El Niño” phenomena are anomalies of the climate pattern in the tropical area of the Eastern Pacific region. They follow the warming variations of the Pacific Ocean. “El Niño” takes place when the sea surface temperature rises while “La Niña” happens when the ocean becomes colder. This cycle is variable because each phenomenon occurs each five or seven years. The climatic and atmospheric implications of this anomalies are highly noticeable in the Andean region of Colombia (Euscátegui and Hurtado 2012) During the “La Niña” phenomenon the Bogotá River and its tributaries become saturated. Due to the flatness of the territory, the speed of water is low, making drainage difficult (CAR 2006).

Páramo

Wetland

River

Páramo Wetlands Rivers Urbanization Location of Chía Fig. 16. The waterscape: Ecosystems of the Sabana de Bogotá. Data Source: Taken from Semillero de investigación Agua + Ciudad. Fase I. Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 2021. P. 48. https://issuu.com/ semilleroaguaciudad/docs/digital_publicacioncompleta-sac_marzo_2021

10 km

2.3. Suburbanization: the risk of conurbation with Chía

The urban growth of Bogotá is leading to the making of large conurbation with its surrounding municipalities. By the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, rich families of Bogotá wanted to leave the “chaos” and poverty of the city. This constituted a driving force of the growth of Bogotá towards the north. The dissatisfaction of the rich with Bogotá seems to be a historical phenomenon (Calderón 2016). According to Arturo Calderón, by the mid of the 20th century , Bogotá was one of the largest and developed capitals of Latin America, but it also was dangerous, noisy, and polluted. Thus, considering the demographic growth and migration from other parts of Colombia to Bogotá, the neighborhoods that were established in the north of the city (what today is Chapinero, Teusaquillo and part of Usaquén) in few decades were surrounded by urbanization, once again at the core of the city.

Fig. 17 Urban growing of Bogotá through historic maps. Dara source: Collage of historic plans of Bogotá. La Calle, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 2015. Digitalized maps: M. Cuéllar y G. Mejía, Atlas Histórico de Bogotá: cartografía 1791 – 2007, Alcaldía Mayor de Bogotá, Bogotá, 2007. http://institutodeestudiosurbanos.info/ dmdocuments/cendocieu/coleccion_digital/Cartografia/Mapa_Historico_ Bogota/

1810

1906

1932

1944

1954

1980

This situation led to a “new suburban alternative” with the aim of leaving the city. Low density houses were developed for the upper classes, who started to settle in areas that were considered rural. The houses were built without a regional planning or vision, and expanded over areas with ecological and landscape values, such as the mountain slopes, and close to forests and wetlands. As well, real estate developers re-parceled old farms to create luxury gated communities (Calderón 2016). Such “(sub) urban islands” are completely detached from the urban tissue and from their immediate contexts since they have no interaction with agricultural practices or the local farmers, As they were conceived from the notion of individuality, the voids between the residential enclaves are private or residual (Bermúdez, Sanijines, and Kostenwein 2015). Despite having optimal soils for agriculture, 63% of the fertile land of the Sabana has new urbanizations or is underused while it is sold for future gated communities (IGAC 2016). This loss of productive capacity and the speculation of land is alarming in the northern municipalities of the Sabana: Chía. Cajicá, La Calera, and Cota. This research by design project focuses on the case of Chía. Chía is located 35 km away from the center of Bogotá but, due to the appearance of gated communities and facilities for the upper class, the limit between both is diffuse.

Fig. 18 (Top left) Gated community “El Sendero” close to the Frío River floodplain. Photo by Rafael Aponte. Personal archive, taken in March 2021. Fig. 19 (Top right) Gated community “Casa de Piedra” close to the Valvanera Hill. In front of the gated community there are small farming houses. Photo by Rafael Aponte. Personal archive, taken in March 2021. Fig. 20 (Bottom) Gated communities located in flooding risk areas or in considered rural plots in Chía. Graphic by the author. Build footprint source: IGAC. Data source: Interpreted from the POT, CAR, IDEAM and research observation.

Gated communities of row houses Gated communities of apartment blocs Floodplain Flooding during “La Niña” in 2011 Recognized wetlands Disputed wetlands Ancient meanders Existing Low Andean Forest Contour lines each 10 meters Study transect

2012

Fig. 21 Replacement of rural housing for gated communities. In 2012 (left) the farming houses were sold to build the “Venetto” gated community. In 2015 (center) the new houses were under construction. The canal (vallado) that was covered with vegetation in 2012 now is visible as a pipeline. In 2018 (right) the gated community is inhabited. The location of the picture can be verified taking as a reference point the Valvanera church over the hill (visible in the 2012 and 2018 photos). Source: Google Street View

2015

2018

3. Problem statement The cartographies shown in the previous section summarize four (4) major ecological and territorial challenges of the Sabana de Bogotá: Floods, landscape fragmentation, loss of productive land, and nature destruction. Those conditions are related to the urbanization over the floodplain and wetlands. Although intense rain events and floods have been historically common in this region, even making part of the natural and normal humid condition of the landscape, climate change has aggravated the flooding risk. In addition, the current urban pattern of occupation, colonizing water bodies and absorptive soils, has caused loss of resilience to adapt and overcome from flood consequences.

Fig. 22 “Houses on sale” A plot with an already planned gated community “La Carolina” facing the Valvanera Hill. Photo by Carlos Páez Alarcón. Personal archive, taken in May 2021.

In the specific case of Chía, the increase of the vulnerability regarding flooding risk, the fragmentation and destruction of Andean Forest and waterbodies, and the loss of productive land are intrinsically related to the emergence of gated communities. This section introduces the research by design in the context of Chía, as well as the questions that motivated this research, and the hypothesis with strategies across scales that landscape urbanism can provide for the sustainable development of this territory. 38

3.1. Research questions 1. What are the contemporary contestations in Chía in relation to ecology and agriculture regarding the consequences of climate change and the housing dynamics of the city? 2. Which landscape urbanism strategies can strengthen both the ecological structure and productive capacity of Chía while simultaneously providing a robust framework for new settlement typologies? 3. How can design research lead to the development of new socio-spatial interactions—across scales—between housing development and the reconstitution of ecological continuity?

Fig. 23 In the suburban context there is a lack of tall trees. Then, the birds alight over utility poles. Photo by Hernando García. Personal archive, taken in March 2021.

3.2. Hypothesis The territorial analysis demonstrated that the Sabana de Bogotá, a vast territory with a great ecological and horticultural value, has been urbanized from a “Bogotácentric” perspective. This means that Bogotá -the capital city- is expanding over the surrounding rural towns. This suburbanization process has commodified the natural resources of the Sabana; especially the wetlands and flood prone areas, that have been dried and filled with concrete for urbanization purposes. Moreover, the distribution of the suburban activities across the Sabana, such as the industry and upper class gated communities, responds to big market dynamics: the floriculture has been concentrated in the western towns closer to the ElDorado Airport, that also have direct road access to it. Simultaneously, the upper class gated communities have been located in the northern and eastern towns, giving to these gated communities privileged views and access to the hills and forests, and closeness to roads that lead to the financial hubs of Bogotá. This is the case of Chía, the town of the Sabana with less availability of productive land (Contreras 2017, 25). Chía has lost most of its productive capacity, while floriculture greenhouses have also decreased, mainly due to the proliferation of those gated communities in plots of former farms. The recognition of the importance of the ecosystem in relation to how people inhabit the Sabana de Bogotá is recent among the political will. This recognition has emerged due to the concern about the increase of floods and the food safety risk that implies losing land that is suitable for cultivation.

However, this thesis recognizes that the suburban gated communities in the edge between Chía and Bogotá constitute today a consolidated urban pattern with large economic interests behind. Therefore, the thesis projects a development framework over time in which, by giving back space to water, a new system which restores the relationship between the nature of the territory and the inhabitants of Chía will be structured. Giving space to water is the driving force of this thesis, because it is a form of resilience facing flooding risk and embracing the natural humid condition of the territory. Thus, understanding the current urban tissue will led to the generation of a sequence of landscape urbanism strategies that enhance and strengthen the local ecologies, as well as their integration, while setting the conditions for future urban transformations. This project envisions that a great investment in ecological restoration will allow the transformation of gated communities in denser and more sustainable alternatives of housing solutions, that simultaneously provide social amenities. The hypothesis of this project is that the consolidation of local ecologies within the suburban context of Chía, articulated with productivity and public space, will be more attractive for those who want to live there. This is because what upper classes pretend with moving out of Bogotá is tranquility and contact with nature, but what but what has happened is that this “migration” process has led to a destruction and fragmentation of nature, as well as a generic urban pattern that denies the landscape.

3.3. Guideline of the scales The spatial analysis and proposal resulted from this thesis focus in Chía, which was highlighted in the maps presented in the previous chapters. The aerial photograph in the next page shows Chía. The vision for the water system is presented for the context of the town (A). For the analysis of the urban tissue, a transect from the Valvanera Hill to the ¬Eastern Hills was studied during the investigation (B). Nevertheless, due to the proportion of the transect and the scale of this booklet, in the analysis chapter just a portion of the transect between the Valvanera Hill and the Bogotá River will be shown in detail. A water management system is proposed in an area area from the Valvanera Hill to the Frío River (C). Finally, to envision future urban transformations of the gated communities, a sample close to the slopes of the Valvanera Hill is tested.

B C D

(A) Chía 10 km x 7.5 km (B) Research transect 8.5 km x 0.5 km (C) Water management design site 1.7 km x 0.5 km (D) Sample for urban transformations 0.3 km x 0.3 km

Fig. 24 Aerial image of Chía with the demarcation of the study and design areas. Source: Google Earth Fig. 25 and 26 (Next two pages) Comparison between two satellite pictures: 2010 (left) and 2020 (right) in the “Fontanar” district of Chía. In 10 years, farmland and greenhouses were replaced by gated communities. There are houses even over the flooding risk areas. Source: Google Earth

0.5

5 km

4. Situated between the Frío and the Bogotá rivers

Fig. 27 Historical map of Chía, 1943. IGAC. In 1943 there was urbanization only surrounding the Hispanic foundation square. Source: https://babel.banrepcultural.org/digital/ collection/p17054coll13/id/56/

4.1. Chía grows over the waterscape Chía is framed by the Cerros Orientales of Bogotá on the east, and the Valvanera Hill on the west. A great part of its area is located between the floodplains of the Bogotá River and its tributary, the Frío River. The situation “between rivers” resulted in a humid and fertile condition that brought a strong agricultural tradition to the territory. The floodplain of both rivers is located at 2540 meters above sea level, while the core of the settlements is located at 2550 meters above sea level (Mejía and Chicué 2014).

FRÍO RIVER

VALVANERA HILL Floodplain

0.5

1km

Fig. 28 Satellite photo of Chía highlighting in white the rivers and in blue the floodplain. Source: Google Earth Data Source: IDEAM

BOGOTÁ RIVER

"CERROS ORIENTALES" (EASTERN HILLS)

Chía in 1960

Chia, whose name in the Muisca language means Moon, was an important settlement in times of the Muisca Confederation. When the news of the arrival of the Spanish to the Altiplano started, many of the Muiscas fled their territory. Those who stayed were subjected to the “encomienda”, a solvent system in which the colonizers exploited the work force of the indigenous putting them in perpetual debt “in exchange of being saved through Christianity and learning Spanish” (Lockhart and Schwartz 1983, 183). In the territory of Chía, the agricultural production was performed by mestizos during centuries. By the mid 20th century, Chía had few settlements surrounding the Hispanic-foundation plaza and some productive farms that were dispersed across the territory (Contreras 2017).

Urbanization in 1960

Contours each 10 meters

Floodplain

Ancient meanders

Roads

0.5

1 km

Fig. 29 Interpretative urbanization of Chía in 1960. The core of the urbanization was surrounding the Hispanic square with disperse house farms and villas between the hills. Graphic by the author. Data source: IGAC and CAR

Chía in 2020

In the 1960s, the government and business people saw in in the productive soils of the Sabana an opportunity for growing flowers to export. Then, the labor possibilities in flower greenhouses constituted a major driving force for the urbanization of Chia (Corella 1993). Nevertheless, the current driving force of this growth, and since the 1990s, has been the construction of gated communities (DANE 2010). This process is leading to urban consolidation, with gated communities mostly inhabited by high-income workers of Bogotá, leading Chía’s becoming a dormitory town.

Urbanization in 1960

Contours each 10 meters

Floodplain

Greenhouses

Roads

0.5

1 km

Fig. 30 The urbanization occupies the waterscape. Current build footprint in Chía. Graphic by the author. Data source: IGAC, POT Chía and CAR.

Landscape contestations

The once agricultural territory is today the site of landscape contestations. Floriculture greenhouses occupy big areas of land, even on vulnerable ecosystems near the rivers. And the gated communities not only jeopardize the areas for agriculture and rural housing, but also create a barrier for landscape continuity due to their geometries that deny the surrounding tissue. Fig. 31 Greenhouses next to a large infrastructural work for a regional road. Photo by Rafael Aponte. Personal archive, taken in March 2021.

Fig. 32 Gated communities close to the Valvanera Hill emerged in between farming houses and greenhouses. Photo by Rafael Aponte. Personal archive, taken in March 2021.

Risky occupations of the floodplain This contested landscape is also the site of strong flooding. As the rains have increased in the last decades because of climate change, Chía is completely losing its capacity to overcome floods. Greenhouses, vehicular infrastructure, both informal and formal housing -and especially- gated communities, settle over the floodplain, destroying the absorptive capacity of the wetlands. These buildings and infrastructure are also at risk by settling in naturally flooding areas.

Floodplain Urbanization Greenhouses Contours each 10 meters

+ + 0

0.5

1 km

Fig. 33 Current urban occupations and greenhouses over the floodplain. Graphic by the author. Data sources: IGAC, CAR, interpreted form the research. Fig. 34 (Top left) Greenhouses next to the Frio River, and Fig. 35 (Bottom left) Informal settlements next to the Frío River. Photo by Rafael Aponte. Personal archive, taken in March 2021. Fig. 36 (Top right) “Fontanar” gated community next to the Bogotá River. Source: 180° pictures of Google Maps. Fig. 37 (Bottom right) Construction of “Los Andes” road over a disputed wetland next to the Bogotá River. Source: Nicolás Achury via https://www. elespectador.com/economia/troncal-de-los-andes-un-pulso-esencial-article/

+ +

4.2. Heterogeneity of the green lands

The remaining agricultural land, as well as the flower production, frame the urban core of Chía. In the south, the diffuse edge with Bogotá has, in addition, a number of gated communities that threaten the atmosphere of the town. In the southern fringe, there is a wetland next to the Bogotá River that must be protected. A representative transect, between the two hills and cross the floodplains of 0.5 km by 8 km, reveals the problems and opportunities in Chía.

Floodplain Existing Low Andean Forest Greenhouses Contours each 10 meters Existing canals "vallados" Wetlands

0.5

Fig. 38 Highlight of the study transect on Chía. Graphic by the author.

1 km

Floodplain Greenhouses Urbanization Disperse trees Existing vallados Surfaces: Residual spaces within the gated communities Disperse housing without gardens

Even though Chía appears green from an aerial photograph, the green areas are extremely fragmented and disconnected from the main ecologies (forests and rivers). In fact, very few patches of Low Andean Forest are still present in the plateau. In the mountains, areas of urbanization have started to invade the forest. On the other hand, small parks are enclosed as part of the facilities of the gated communities. It is also common to see underused grasses that contain fertile soils, but that are uncultivated.

Fig. 39 Surface analysis. Graphic by the author.

250 m

500 m

Frío River Floodplain Gated communities Greenhouses Contours each 10 meters

4.3. Gated communities fragment the tissue By comparing the cadastral plan with aerial photographs of the last decades, it can be interpreted how former farming lots followed the grid from the city center and set the pattern for the major roads, and have subsequently been subdivided for residential purposes. In this tissue analysis, it is evident how the closed geometries of the gated communities deny the landscape continuity.

Fig. 40 Tissue analysis. Graphic by the author

250 m

500 m

Build footprint Frío River Floodplain Gated communities Greenhouses Contours each 10 meters

4.4. Legitimation of the speculation land The analysis of the tissue and the built footprint reveals that there are dwellings on vulnerable ecosystems, while others are in consolidated plots that could be upgraded. There is also a great potential in “underused grasses”, that are large plots, generally very close to consolidated gated communities, that are already subdivided in the cadastral plan A phenomenon of speculation land is also evident where there are green areas that are waiting to be transformed in gated communities.

Fig. 41 Build footprint analysis. Graphic by the author

250 m

500 m

4.5. The opportunity for giving back space for water: The vallados system Following the analysis it is clear that the territory of Chía has four main landscape needs: 1. Let the water flow, 2. Connect disrupted ecosystems, 3. Recover green areas for productivity, and 4. Transform gated communities in the long-term into more sustainable settlements. To make all this possible, an existing system of waterways was identified. The system of drainage canals was dug by the farmers decades ago to make the water runoff possible in such a flat area. However, these, locally called “vallados” are now interrupted and highly polluted, representing a sanitary problem. It is time to recover the “vallados” to embrace the waterscape in order to choreograph new rhythms in the landscape.

Existing vallados Gated communities of row houses Gated communities of apartment blocks Green houses Floodplain Floods in 2011

Polluting points Recognized wetlands Disputed wetlands Ancient meanders Natural streams Existing Low Andean Forest Fig. 42 Mapping of the challenges and opportunities. Graphic by the author Fig. 43 (Next page) The layout of a vallado, parallel to a road and facing a gated community. Photo by Carlos Páez Alarcón. Personal archive, taken in May 2021.

5. Visions

Fig. 44 Photo by Hernando García. Personal archive, taken in March 2021.

5.1. A rhizome system for the reconstitution of the waterscape Fig. 45 (This page) Mycelium Rhizome (2008) by Richard Giblett. Source: http://www.richardgiblett.com.au/ myceliumrhizome.html Graphite on paper, 120 x 240 cm, Private collection, Melbourne. Fig. 46 (Next page) A drainage vallado runs through a farm to reach the Frío River. Photo by Rafael Aponte. Personal archive, taken in March 2021.

This project sees in the remaining vallados a major opportunity for the reconstitution of a system in which water articulates the relationships between the landscape and the citizens. Giving space to water, as a form of resilience to floods, implies a great infrastructure investment. Considering that Chía is an area of interest for real estate developers, those investments could trigger more funds for public space, social amenities, mobility, and even for new alternatives of urbanity. The dynamics of urbanization in this territory show that gated communities are unsustainable forms of occupation, where very few privileged people settle on large areas of land. Thus, this project recognizes the need to infiltrate the gated communities with the landscape. Although this could face some resistance from their developers and inhabitants, it is also an opportunity to offer them a way of living closer to the natural features of its territory.

The open spaces of the gated communities are residual. Then, the starting point of this project was about “parasitizing with the vallados” those residual spaces. This led to the concept of the “rhizome” described by Deleuze and Guattari. According to their epistemological model, knowledge cannot be explained as a hierarchical tree. Instead, it can be explained as a rhizome of multiple elements interconnected in a heterogeneous and decentralized way. Deleuze and Guattari explained their model based on the biological definition of a rhizome: a mass of roots that grows horizontally, that cannot be broken, and that is a never ending process (Deleuze and Guattari 1980). Therefore, the reconstitution of the vallados network, in a rhizomatic form, will opportunistically take advantage of the available space to infiltrate the gated communities, irrigate the productive land and drainage the rainwater. This system, as a in infrastructural platform, will also articulate green corridors and soft mobility lanes.

5.2. Layering of the rhizome: Territorial strategies The rhizome takes forms and paths according to the opportunities of each moment and space. The connections in this project aim to articulate the ecosystem with the identified “system of islands”: the gated communities and the speculation land. Thus, the vallados network will set a framework to create blue and green corridors that link the broken relationship between the forests on the hills and the rivers-wetlands ecosystems in the floodplain. To respond to the challenge of permeating the gated communities, this ecological integration will take the available land as an opportunity to regenerate patches of diverse planting schemes. The next series of cartographies show the interaction between the layers of ecologies and urbanization to constitute a rhizomatic system. Gated communities of row houses Gated communities of apartment blocks Green houses Speculation land Floodplain Floods in 2011 Recognized wetlands Disputed wetlands Ancient meanders Natural streams Existing vallados Existing Low Andean Forest Fig. 47 Layers that make up the rhizome system. Graphic by the author.

Ecosystem reconstitution: Andean Forest and wetlands One of the greatest challenges of Chía facing climate change crisis is flood risk. To address this, it is imperative to depopulate the floodplain for its protection. The current open areas in the floodplain can be immediately integrated to a system of wetland restoration. Plots with flowering greenhouses within the floodplain can adopt seasonal cropping. However, there are some areas over the floodplain occupied by large gated communities. The ones that are located in high flood risk areas or that are threatening the remaining wetlands must be gradually depopulated. Those inhabitants can be relocated by increasing the density in the areas for expansion and urban transformation.

Existing wetland

Greenhouses lots transformed into seasonal cropping

First phase of depopulation

Second phase of depopulation

Fig.48 Proposal for Low Andean Forest reconstitution and depopulation of the floodplain by phases. Graphic by the author.

The vallados as driving force for territorial transformations Reclaiming space for water is the main reason of this research. Therefore, this proposal sees a great opportunity in the existing layout of the vallados. Restoring the vallados in both spatial and ecological terms will bring back water to the surface, which used to be the protagonist of this landscape but that has been increasingly marginalized. To create a water system that drives the rhythms of the landscape, links the hills with the floodplain, and that lets the water flow when there is flooding, it is necessary to improve the connections among the existing vallados and to dig more as well. The existing vallados are parallel to roads. In the proposal, these vallados collect rainwater and surface runoff from the hills. From them, new connections are created that follow the urban tissue to permeate the gated communities and bring clean water to the rivers. Treatment systems are established in the water course before and after the gated communities, where collection points are located. A series of constructed wetlands are established where there are currently discharge pollution points for a final purification before the water reaches the river. The Cota-Chía and the Bogotá-Tunja highways are major infrastructure ruptures of and ecosystem course and logics. To address this, canalization systems will connect the streams of the mountains with the vallados in the floodplain. Gated communities of row houses

Existing vallados

Gated communities of apartment blocks

Proposed vallados

Buffer floodable forest

Treatment canals

Natural Wetlands Constructed wetlands

Fig. 49 Rhizomatic configuration of the vallados network. Graphic by the author.

Forest integrity

Forest integrity is essential for sustainable development and a primary step towards the restoration of ruptures among the local ecologies. Afforesting the hills with native species of Low Andean Forest represents an important step in the reconstitution of the ecosystem of the Sabana. Additionally, the restoration and construction of wetlands in the floodplain implies the plantation of amphibian vegetation, and the constitution of a buffer floodable forest that protects the rivers. Those wet forests can be articulated to the forest on the hills through new tree lines across the plain. Green corridors are proposed following the layout of the vallados, linking the remaining patches of forest over the plain and taking the available speculation land as opportunity for expanding the vegetation patches . Plantations of orchards and agroforestry in some of the available plots will engage the community into productivity and forest development. Different plantations in terms of density and vegetation type will foster different gradients of interaction between citizens and nature, by using as criteria the water presence and capacity of the plots. The urban core of Chía, which is highly consolidated for a water infrastructure intervention, can be permeated with vegetation corridors.

Vegeation patches Forestation corridors

Fig. 50 Forestation strategy. Graphic by the author.

0.5

2.5

5 km

Sustainable future: softer lanes The constitution of the vallados network makes water the defining element of all the interventions in the rhizomatic design. Therefore, water serves as a platform not just for new vegetation systems, but also for public spaces and new mobilities. This research by design led to the finding that cycling is popular and traditional in this area due to the weather and geographical conditions, but also due to short distances to main mobility corridors. Considering that reducing vehicle infrastructure and encouraging soft mobilities is a crucial step towards sustainability, this proposal, as a vision for future urban transformations, aims to prepare the ground for building bicycle and pedestrian lanes. The recent political will to consolidate the Sabana de Bogotá as a region has projected to create a “Regiotram” system that connects Bogotá with the towns through the underused railways (El Tiempo 2021). In the case of Chía, those railways border the foot of the Easter Hills. This proposal considers the Regiotram project as a form to integrate intermodal transportation. The proposed bicycle lane will connect two points of the railways with the suburban areas of Chía, articulating the system with the gated communities, which are envisioned as transformation enclaves. Proposed soft mobility lanes Projected regiotram Gated communities of row houses Gated communities of apartment blocks

Fig. 51 Mobility strategy. Graphic by the author.

5.3. Sampling the vallados network: a water management rhizome Considering that the vallados network is the defining element of this rhizomatic design, an area between the foot of the Valvanera Hill and the Frío River was selected to test the layout and logics of the water system. In this area, gated communities have emerged in the proximities of the foothill, while informal settlements are in prone areas of the floodplain. Big plots are currently on sale, specially surrounding the existing gated communities. The pattern of the gated communities shows a highly fragmented tissue and landscape, where the houses occupy entirely its plot.

500 m

Floodplain Urbanization: Informal occupation Houses for qualitative upgrading (based on DANE's material deficit) Greenhouses Surfaces: Gated communities Plots on sale (speculation land) Agriculture Cattle pastures

Fig. 52 (Top of this page) Aerial picture of Chía highlighting the area for the water management sampling (1.7 km x 0.5 km). Source: Google Earth

Vegetation

Fig. 53 (Top next page) Aerial picture of the current situation of the area. From this figure onwards the maps are rotated 30°. Source: Google Earth

Patches of Andean Forest on the plain

Fig. 54 (Center next page) Plot division and build footprint of the area. Graphic by the author. Fig. 55 (Bottom next page) Interpretative map of the open surfaces of the areas. Graphic by the author.

Existing low Andean Forest on the hill Flood trees Dispersed trees Shrubbery

Existing vallado Contour lines each (1) meter Area for sampling the urban transformation

100

250 m

A community-based system for water collection and treatment

Fig. 56 Layering the water rhizome. Graphic by the author

Topography + vallados + Floodplain Floodplain

The microtopography was considered to to dig new canals and built the vallados system, by identifying the steepest slope to let water run through them. Nonetheless, sometimes the steepest slope determined the natural course of water crossing plots. Thus, the infrastructural intervention for the water system balances the surface runoff with the existing urban tissue. Hence, the layout of the vallados system follows a logic of water management, in which collected water is treated for production and infiltration purposes. This water passes through a second treatment stage that allows to drain clean water into the river.

Existing vallado Contour lines each (1) meter Area for sampling the urban transformation

Vallados + trees Existing low Andean Forest on the hill Patches of Andean Forest on the plain Flood trees Dispersed trees Shrubbery

The proposal considers the method of “living machines” to outline the vallados network. The living machines are community managed green and blue spaces in which vegetation and biological handcrafted reactors treat wastewater (Fenton 2017). Then, the layout of the vallados aims to articulate the productive and the speculation land, and to infiltrate the gated communities, while the water cycle is experienced among the inhabitants.

Vallados + gated communities + speculation land + productive plots

Gated communities Speculation land Productive plots

100

250 m

How to integrate “the islands” to the waterscape? Existing vallados

The existing vallados correspond to the steepest slope. Thus, they work for drainage purposes. In this section of the transect, a central vallado collect rainwater and runoff from the slopes. From that existing canal, distribution vallados emerge according to the plot lines.

Living machines (1st stage)

Following the distribution vallados, the first stage of living machines for water treatment appears.

Irrigation vallados

From the treated water, irrigation vallados reach the existing farms but also start to infiltrate the gated communities. This infiltration aims to set the conditions for common orchards and public spaces related to water that encourage urban transformations within the gated communities.

New distribution vallados

Fig. 58 The water cycle through the vallados network. Graphic by the author.

Living machines (2nd stage)

250 m

The water used in agriculture and the wastewater from the neighborhoods pass for the second stage of living machines where it is treated.

Discharge vallados

The treated water goes through the peripherical existing vallados that drain the water towards the floodplain.

Constructed wetlands

Forestation on the hills

Proposed trees for forest integration

Wetland vegetation

Parks

Agroforestry

The last water treatment intervention consists of the construction of wetlands in the floodplain that ensure that the discharges in the river are not polluted. The overall water intervention is matched with forestation development that protects the water courses and enhance the ecosystem in the floodplain.

Fig. 59 Rhizomatic proposal through the vallados system. Graphic by the author.

Surfaces: Gated communities Existing

Plots on sale (speculation land) Agriculture Cattle pastures

Vegetation Existing low Andean Forest on the hill Patches of Andean Forest on the plain

Constructed wetlands Proposed

Forestation on the hills Proposed trees for forest integration

Flood trees

Wetland vegetation

Dispersed trees

Parks

Shrubbery

Agroforestry

Existing vallados

The vallados network starts a process of infrastructure investment that involves forestation and soft mobility lanes. In the areas where housing has material deficit, the urban transformation emerges, while landscape infiltration in this suburban tissue sets the conditions for a shift in the way how gated communities settle.

A discharge vallado, a bicycle lane and tree lines parallel emerge taking advantage of the secondary road that cross the Frío River. The new space will lead people to enjoy the wetland. As well, it is a key location to articulate the west of Chía with the future Regiotram through soft lanes that also work as public spaces related to the ecosystem connectivity.

New distribution vallados

Living machines (2nd stage)

Bicycle lane

Living machines (1st stage)

Discharge vallados

First urban transformation in the current lots with houses in material deficit

Irrigation vallados

Constructed wetlands

100 m

250 m

Fig. 60 (This page) Area of the intervention. Photo by Rafael Aponte. Personal archive, taken in March 2021. Fig. 61 (Top next page) Aerial picture of the transect highlighting the area for the urban sampling (300 m x 300 m). Fig. 62 (Bottom next page) Current status of the area. Graphic by the author.

5.4. Setting the frame for urban transformations: Investments in infrastructure that embrace the landscape will trigger new real estate logics

300 m

The sampling area for testing the future urban transformations was selected near to the slopes of the Valvanera Hill where gated communities proliferate because they look for privileged views over the hill. In this case, there are two gated communities of row houses of two floors. There are also, next to these gated communities, two large plots on sale in which new gated communities are projected. Thus, the intervention in this area stars by purchasing those plots and establishing in them diverse planting systems that ensure agroecological connectivity and restoration. The main challenge of this design by research is to make feasible the idea of (re)commoning the land of the gated communities in order to densify it, while large capitals are assigned to the construction of ecological infrastructure. Therefore, the design strategies aim to make the project an attractive investment for both the real estate developers and the current inhabitants of the gated communities. Those main strategies are:

300 m

1. Associate the green corridors and bike lanes with the vallados system in order to use water as a main axis of the infrastructural transformations, while soft mobility is encouraged, and ecological connectivity is reinforced. The existing plots divisions and dirt roads serve as a primary space for the layout of this infrastructural system. Using the same outline for the vallados, tree lines and bike lanes will focus the investment on the same plots, while saving costs and time as the works are done in parallel. Distribution vallados Bike lanes Tree lines (Alisos)

Fig. 63 Infrastructure invesment. Graphic by the author

2. The gated communities are isolated neighborhoods that close themselves from the surrounding tissue. Within the gated communities and in their immediate context there is a great lack of public spaces and social infrastructure. To address this, the spatial intervention contemplates the creation of an axis of new social amenities that articulates the two existing gated communities, as a way to burst into the “island” effect. This axis will ensure connectivity between the housing enclaves, while providing public spaces and diverse activities that oppose to the “dormitory town” development. Tree lines (Cedros) Tree lines (Uche) New buildings of Social ammenites

Fig. 64 Articulation between the two gated communities. Graphic by the author

3. The great ambition of this design by research is to prepare the ground for future settlement pattern transformations of the gated communities to ensure ecological continuity and a more sustainable use of the land. Thus, it is necessary to free space within the gated communities but always considering its high economical value for residential purposes. The project aims to maintain profitability for the developers by increasing the housing capacity of the current gated community’s plots. Then, housing densification will be possible by recovering ecological features in the available plots and offering them as a platform for public space and community leisure. This agroecological restoration will infiltrate the new free space from the gated communities giving to their inhabitants direct access and views over the Andean landscape. Those features were, in the beginning, what made attractive for the upper classes to move to Chía. Fig. Phase 2 of the densification

In this area, there are few informal settlements with small space for horticulture. That area could be the first opportunity for an urban transformation that offers social housing with room for production to its current inhabitants. New buildings of Social ammenites Housing requalification 1st phase of densification 2nd phase of densification

Fig. 65 (Top this page) Phase 1 of the densification. Graphic by the author Fig. 66 (Bottom this page) Phase 2 of the densification. Graphic by the author

300 m

Section

Phasing the transformation: blue and green platform for negotiating Current situation

20 m

The platform for negotiating the urban transformations will be the rhizome itself. Currently, in the gated communities of the selected area there is no Andean Forest trees despite being bordering the foothill. Considering the rhizome starts to be built by taking the present opportunities, this thesis proposes, in the hypothetical case of a negotiation, to star by purchasing the speculation lands to consolidate diverse plantation schemes according to their proximity to the slopes, water, and other patches.

Fig. 67 Section of the current status of the area. Graphic by the author

Water infrastructure phase

Infiltration canal

Roble line

20 m

Leisure orchards

Axis park

In the first phase of the intervention, the infrastructure of the vallados is built. This infrastructure is matched with bike lanes and tree lines. Such tree lines allow the consolidation of axes that link the two gated communities and the big two plots on sale, which start to be reforested. In the one that is visible in this section, considering its proximity to one of the treatments living machines and to some disperse trees, agroforestry is proposed. Following the irrigation vallado that crosses the gated community orchards emerge in the residual spaces.

Roble and aliso line

Bike lane Treatment living machine

Agroforestry

Fig. 68 Section of the infrastructure transformation. Graphic by the author

Housing densification (Phase 1)

20 m

The reforestation of the patch of Andean Forest allows to permeate with tree lines the gated communities. For achieving this, it necessary to start the densification process. Thus, mid-rise buildings arise following those tree lines. The new buildings follow the orientation of the current tissue, where the views over the Valvanera Hill are privileged. The liberation of space allows the rhizome to keep growing with in the once fenced neighborhoods. As the new buildings increase the housing capacity, part of the inhabitants of the gated communities and new inhabitants can move to the new buildings.

Fig. 69 Section of the first phase of densification. Graphic by the author

100

Housing densification (Phase 2)

101

20 m

The row houses are completely replaced by blocks surrounded by forest. The rural houses outside the gated communities remain. The diverse systems of planting aim to articulate the public spaces among the new buildings and the farming ones. The new buildings contain local commerce and amenities in the ground floors. This, with the aim to prevent single use as housing, which was the effect of the gated communities.

Fig. 70 Section of the second phase of densification. Graphic by the author

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Logics of the tree lines The forestation strategy of this proposal seeks for integrating the ecosystems between the hills and the two rivers. To achieve this, Andean species are planted in the former speculation lands. The forest is denser closer the slopes and it has different gradients until the floodplain. This, with the goal of keeping the forest on the hills and enhance the productivity closer to the floodplain. “Alisos”, the common trees of the bank rivers in this region, are planted following the water lines. “Cedros” which are commonly used for field boundaries in the Sabana, frame the axes that merged from taking the residual spaces of the gated communities.

Fig. 71 (Top this page) Forestation startegy. Graphic by the author Fig. 72 (Bottom this page) Water infrastructure + forestation + bike lanes. Graphic by the author Fig. 73 (Next page) Plan of the rhizomatic vision. Graphic by the author

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20 m

Bird watching tower

Market School Community center

0 Roble Alisos Cedros Uche Agroforestry Orchards Agriculture

50 m

New buildings of Social ammenites Housing requalification 1st phase of densification 2nd phase of densification Playgrounds

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105

Housing requalification New buildings of Social ammenites 1st phase of densification 2nd phase of densification

The densification processes in an area with diverse income groups (the upper class in the gated communities and the few farmers that remain) will provide a platform for social integration in this new “sub-urban” forest. The first urban transformation (houses with material deficit) and the densification of the gated communities will provide a unique opportunity for joining public and privet interests.

Playgrounds

Roble Alisos Cedros Uche Agroforestry

With the described strategies, this project aims to offer real nature contact and social amenities to the inhabitants of the gated communities -amenities that they currently do not have within the fences-. Thus, the incentive for the current inhabitants of the gated communities is giving them back what they originally wanted when they moved to the countryside: a life with nature. While the incentive to the real estate developers is keeping (and increasing) the rentability of transforming this areas increasing the living capacity.

Orchards Agriculture

Fig. 74 Isometric representation of the vision for the future urban transformation. Graphic by the author

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6. Endless rhizome

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Conclusions

Mapping is a dual exercise of interpretation and projection that helps to understand existing conditions, challenges, and opportunities of the territory. In the context of this research by design, a critical perspective of the urban development paradigm led to read in the cartographies the (sub)urbanization pattern of the gated communities as the motor of the landscape fragmentation. Then, addressing ecological challenges in Chía, such as flooding risk, loss of productive land, and wetlands destruction involves a discussion about the responsibility and role of the gated communities. The need for ecological restoration is therefore mandatory, but it must be always considered that Chía is a highly modified territory with large capital interest behind it. Thus, any transformation on the territory must be addressed as a negotiation attitude instead of an imposition. Likewise, the feasibility of those urban transformations within the gated communities was the most challenging aspect of this research by design. Envisioning radical changes in the basic cell of the urban pattern of the Sabana de Bogotá must be projected as a platform for negotiation and conviction. Joining efforts between infrastructure investment and landscape restoration will enhance the natural features for which, originally, living on the edges between the countryside and the city was attractive.

Nevertheless, the rhizomatic design, rather than a definitive solution, is a dynamic vision that is presented as a form of seeing the problems as opportunities for injecting landscape into the urban tissues. This dynamic vision proposes to take advantage of the opportunities and conditions of each moment, to balance the relationships between the inhabitants and their territory, Rhizomatic design is, above all, a commitment to radical adaptation. This design by research is critical of the suburbanization process on the agroecological edge between Chía and Bogotá. Its scope was directed to propose spatial possibilities for future patterns of urban development that balance the high demand for upper class housing in Chía with its ecological elements and its productive capacity. However, I envision to open the discussion about the necessary and urgent transformation of the settlements over this waterscape. This future discussion must involve the stakeholders that allow, build and inhabit the islands that are fragmenting the landscape. Lastly, the Colombian Conflict is rooted in the land ownership policy. The hope for peace in the national context sees a more equitable society that work together for the common good.

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6.3. Acknowledgments I would like to express my gratitude to my promotors and advisors Kelly Shannon and Bruno De Meulder for their guidance, understanding and commitment with my project and my own learning process. Thanks to Claudia Rojas Bernal, for her wise comments in the revisions. Thanks to my parents Cecilia and Hernando, for their ageless and inexhaustible willing to support me in doing what makes me happy. Thanks to Karen, for the immensity of our sisterhood, and for being always present regardless of the distance. Thanks to my family for their trust and prayers. Thanks to Rafael Aponte and Carlos Paéz Alarcón for taking the photographs for this booklet. Thanks to Angie Camacho and Natalia Acosta for the shared interests on landscape urbanism, and for starting with me what led me to this project. Thanks to Henry Talavera for helping me to find a track to follow, and for suggesting me this study program. Thanks to my colleagues from the MaHS-MaULP 2019-2021, specially to Fahri Abdala, for his genuine interest in my wellbeing. To my compas of thesis, especially to the ones that shared the joy and the pain in De Molen: Karmen, Natalia, Rachid, Juan and Silvia.

I am infinitely grateful to Jorge Alarcón for his help, for showing me his hometown Chía, for doing my long-distance fieldwork, and for our friendship. Thanks to Diego Romero, for the ubiquity that the internet allows us to have, for sharing with me all the good and the bad moments during these years, and for the strength and astral compatibility of our friendship. To my compadre Federico Ruíz, to whom my feelings could only be expressed in a vallenato song. I thank the Divine Providence for the fortune of having him around these two years. Thanks to my muse, Joan Gallego, for his unconditional love and patience, and for being the greatest enthusiast of my ideas. Thanks for becoming an adult with me, and for helping me to jump to the other side of my fears. Thanks for your immense support, and for paying for the therapy. Thanks to Rocío -my therapist, to Roberto Musso and Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio for helping me to overcome the SAD. Lastly, thanks to the Latin Americans I have met these two years, for making me feel part of a tissue during this immense loneliness and uncertainty. Thank you for reminding me that we come from the most magnificent territory.

Thanks to my quarantine crew Frederiek Wesel, Federico Ramírez, Elisabeth Kadletz, and Daniel Samaniego, for always welcoming me with open arms, making me feel that I was part of a home in the Benelux. You are the best COVID family I could have asked for.

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