The Colombian city of Medellín: discussing the impact of social

Abstract

While the Colombian city of Medellín used to be infamous as the world’s most violent (1991), a more recent image is as the most innovative (2013). The case of Medellín is thus taken to epitomise possibilities for positive change, with the city being looked up to by others. The particular renown here is as one of the cradles of the so-called ‘social urbanism’, an approach to city-making that aims to resolve social issues by means of interventions in urban space, via infrastructure, public places, etc. However, while the successes of this approach have been acknowledged and vaunted internationally, certain less-successful effects have often tended to be silenced. This paper therefore focuses on the more-shadowy side to social urbanism, and on ways of proceeding that remain in place despite the transformations announced. The aim is thus to contribute to a fact-based discussion on the actual effectiveness of social urbanism in addressing social challenges.