Medellin

Social urbanism, an idea underlying the urban transformations of Medellin in the last 15 years, refers to an intervention methodology within the urban fabric that associates public policies, urban planning, and design through a participatory process. Its main objective would be to transform the city's social and spatial dynamics by improving the infrastructural and morphological reality of urban space, thereby increasing the quality of life of citizens. This process is linked to Mayor Sergio Fajardo's term (2004-2007), but several strategies were also carried out by his successors Alonso Salazar (2008-2011), Anibal Gaviria (2012-2015), and Federico Gutierrez (2016-2019). Analyses on this political and urban process have led to judgments of convictions or of unrestricted success. After 15 years of this pioneering experience, a more detailed evaluation of the urban reality of Medellin is needed. Thus, this chapter intends to carry out this task on three fronts: the first two parts present the two main elements of the equation of the Medellin phenomenon, that is, the worsening of a the historical, social, and spatial problem (1) and the development of management and intervention instruments in the urban space as strategic tools for social cohesion (2). The reflection ends with a look at the resulting urban environment (3).