I N T E R N AT I O N A L S H O W C A S E By Jota Samper and Carlos Escobar
The transformation of MedellĂn Environmental remediation and community development is having a huge impact on the informal settlements of Medellin in Colombia 1. Escalators. Before and after. Š Jota Samper, Carlos Escobar
1 HermelĂn, M. (2005). Desastres de origen natural en Colombia, 1979-2004. Universidad Eafit.
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edellin is the secondlargest city in Colombia; it was the centre of agrarian production in the early part of the 20th century with the boom in coffee production, then transitioned to the manufacturing of goods such as textiles. As with many Latin American cities, Medellin received a large influx of population from the rural areas in the late part of the 20th century generating a massive urban expansion. However, the collapse of industries resulted in a lack of opportunities for employment for those arriving at the city, the lack of jobs and affordable housing opportunities propelled these poor arriving populations to create informal settlements on the edges of the city. Most of them are in high slopes of the mountains or in flood banks of the hundreds of creeks that surround the valley. The combination of the hazardous condition of this geography and the vulnerability of these populations creates high levels of environmental insecurity. The frequent rains and slopes soils composition create a risk to landslides or floods and endanger the lives of the thousands of informal dwellers of the city. Just in 1987, a landslide in the neighbourhood of Villatina took the life of 500 inhabitants.1 In the 1980s and 90s, Medellin experienced the most difficult moments in its recent history, high unemployment rates, violence and the continuous expansion of informal settlements. With the collapse of industries in the city, the illicit drug market emerged.
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The informal neighbourhoods became areas ripe for recruitment for the violent efforts of drug cartels and for the hiding of illegal groups that were fighting the Government in the long, nondeclared civil war in Colombia. The low institutional presence and the lack of public investment, high unemployment rate, and the high levels of poverty
turned the informal settlements of the city into favourable territories to house illegal groups. The resurgence of the city over the last decade is the result of the collective efforts of initiatives of a social, academic, cultural and institutional nature. These include the Consajeria para la Paz (Peace Council), the municipal 31
