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May 28, 2009
Arrival in Medellín
Welcome to my blog! This is my very first time writing a blog and I'm pretty excited by the whole idea. I am a rising Junior concentrating in Political Science and possibly Economics or Latin American Studies. My Watsonblog will consist of updates and observations while I am here in Medellín, Colombia working with the mayor's office. I am very fortunate to have received support from the Watson Institute in the form of the Richard Smoke Summer Fellowship.
My work here in Medellín will consist of supporting the mayor's office as they develop, monitor and evaluate what are known here as Strategic Projects. Medellín's Strategic Projects are for the most part urban development projects that the current mayor, Alonso Salazar, wants to leave behind as his personal mark on the city.
The history of Strategic Projects really begins with the administration of former mayor Sergio Fajardo (2004-2007) when the entire city of Medellín, after many years of crippling violence and social decay, took on the challenge of drastically transforming its own social, cultural and economic landscape. The city's problems were massive and seemingly insurmountable: powerful organized crime organizations, vast social and economic inequities, the rapid growth of slums along the city's periphery, the simple absence of the state in many poor neighborhoods, and violence associated with Colombia's armed conflict. When he came into office in 2004, Fajardo envisioned a series of ambitious urban development projects through which he sought to break the cycles of violence, social inequality and urban decay that had made Medellín a virtually unlivable city.
Fajardo's Strategic Projects focused on improving education, reducing inequality, creating more public reacreational and social spaces, improving security, encouraging entrepeneurship and improving the relationship between the city's administration and its inhabitants. By 2007, Medellín had high-tech educational and recreational centers in poor and formerly war-torn neighborhoods, a new transportation system that reached into formerly impenetrable slums, a homicide rate 90% lower than the rate in 1991, and perhaps most notably and importantly, a new culture of optimism.
Current mayor Salazar's strategic projects feature a similar commitment to equality, good government and education, with a strong commitment to improving the dire housing situation faced by many residents of poor neighborhoods.
Specifically, I will be working on three of these projects.
The first is the transformation of the Moravia neighborhood. Moravia is a slum built on the city's old trash dump. Most of its residents are poor, with many living in shacks. The trash dump below them poses significant health challenges. Further, Moravia once was home to illegal armed groups and criminal organizations, who took advantage of the dire economic situation and social exclusion faced by many residents. Today, the city administration is making Moravia an experiment in complete urban transformation. The Moravia project seeks to improve education, relocate residents in high-risk housing situations, prevent potential health crises related to the old trash dump, create public spaces for education and recreation, and encourage local entrepreneurship.
The second is Medellín Solidaria, which targets 45 thousand of Medellín's poorest households and provide them with accessible and efficient social services, ranging from nutrition to housing to employment assistance. This project requires the integration of different agencies at various levels of government, as well as the development of working relationships with the households themselves.
The third project is Modelo Medellín, which seeks to organize Medellín's experience in urban transformation since 2004 in a way that is accessible to the public. This project is still in its infancy, but the ultimate goal is to clearly identify the city’s achievements and challenges as model for cities worldwide.
For some really cool interactive pages and further information about Medellín’s Strategic Projects, I encourage everyone to check out laboratoriomedellin.com
Please check back for further updates.
Posted by Pablo Rojas at May 28, 2009 04:05 PM
Comments
Hola Pablin!1 yo visite Moravia durante todo el ano82 por un programa de alfabetizacion del colegio la Ensenanza, la gente vivia al lado del morro de basura , de lo que tiraban los otros, el olor era terrible,la suciedad,la falta de presencia estatal, lo unico que habia alli y era donde alfabetizabamos era una escuela pequena de
Fe y alegria ( una organizacion religiosa que vendia boletas por toda Colombia para hacer escuelas en lugares marginados).El nino que yo le ayudaba hacer tareas se llamaba Sergio,siempre me recibia con mucha alegria, y un dia me llevo a su casa que aunque muy pobre y al lado de morro de la basura era muy limpia adentro.Otro dia me conto que le habian hecho una prueba de tuberculosis.
Siempre me ha quedado la duda de si el morro de basura y el incendio fue a proposito o fue lago que accidentalmente ocurrio.
Me alegra que estes tan organizado con tu vista a Medellin
Pili
Posted by: Pili at June 6, 2009 04:44 PM
