CityMakers, The Global Community of Architects Who Learn from Exemplary Cities and Their Makers, works with Archdaily to publish a series of articles about Barcelona, Medellin, and Rotterdam.
The authors are the architects, urban planners, and/or strategists behind the projects that have transformed these three cities and are studied in the "Schools of Cities" and "Documentary Courses"
Victor Restrepo, Coordinator of CityMakers in Medellin, presents his article "Medellin: A Case Study".
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Medellín stands as an inspiring example for many cities worldwide. It is a city that transitioned from deep collective fear to hopeful enthusiasm for urban and social life characterized by quality and coexistence. The city's crisis has always been associated with violence and drug trafficking. However, this crisis is more structural and profound, it responds to many more factors, some of which are associated with the accelerated growth of its population.
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Since Colombia's independence, Medellín became the regional capital of the Antioquia province in the first half of the 19th century. Gold and coffee were the country's main export products for much of the 19th and 20th centuries, leading to capital accumulation and the establishment of industries, which solidified the city as the country's main industrial center by 1950.
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These conditions of progress and stability triggered migrations, which settled irregularly and informally on the slopes and outskirts of the city.
During this time, significant infrastructure and service projects were developed, shaping the city's future: the construction and operation of the Antioquia Railway (1870-1930), the installation of electricity (1898), the installation of the aqueduct (1914), and the electric tram (1921).
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By the 1950s, another factor, the one with the greatest impact, was the appearance of drug trafficking in the neighborhoods. In the narrow streets and urban life, drug trafficking found a favorable environment to thrive.
Medellín plunged into a profound crisis during the 1980s and 1990s, as known by all. "Medellín became a city with a conflicted economic, social, and urban geography."
However, the crisis became the catalyst for the city's transformation.
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Integrated Urban projects (known in Spanish as PUI – Proyectos Urbanos Integrales) are an intervention strategy that applies the Social Urbanism model composed of three components: physical, social, and institutional.
The physical component is based on multi-scale urban interventions, involving impactful projects with high aesthetic quality on public space, collective facilities, housing, mobility, and the environment—a chain of projects gradually transforming the territory.
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The social component relies on a strategy of constant dialogue. This mechanism reaches territories before physical interventions, creating scenarios for the identification, of issues, and spaces for understanding and proposals. This component is in a constant search for a sense of belonging and sustainability.
Within the PUI is a commitment to quality #architecture with a high aesthetic sense that aims to resignify places and their inhabitants.