Moving out of Escobar shadow
At 26 years after the infamous drug lord was killed, “The City of Eternal Spring” is now moving on and reinventing. This renaissance is noticeable in both places with deep rooted social problems; Santo Domingo – until recently an impenetrable slum of makeshift huts on a hillside in North Medellín and San Javier district also known as “Comuna 13” – an supra-populated and low-income area that crawls up along the hills from west of the city.
The first illegal settlements in Medellín were built by rural migrants who were escaping the political violence instituted in Colombia’s countryside in the 1950s. Fleeing the civil war and looking for opportunities, people built their houses using whatever materials could be gathered. Isolated and ignored by populist politicians, many slum residents were recruited by these guerrillas, gangs and paramilitaries that later controlled the neighborhoods. In the 1990s, the city was already known worldwide as the murder capital of the world.
Two public transport investments have made these profound transformations possible. First: The Medellin’s metro which in 2000 was linked with the Metro-Cable – a unique aerial cable car transport system connecting the city center to the sprawling hilltop slums on the city’s outskirts of Santo Domingo. Second: An enormous 384m roofed outdoor escalator build in 2011 as a unique and creative public transport option uniting Comuna 13 to the rest of Medellín.
By far the human factor remains decisive. The youth of the neighborhood took action in own ways focusing the energy in producing art. Local authorities provided youngsters paint tools to strengthen their sense of community and change frustration into a creative force. The sounds gunfire was replaced by music and graffiti, bringing the community closer together. Art saved the city as a medium for creative expression. The walls of the houses have become huge paintings that tell their own history, adorning the area and bringing hope and peace to the habitants and visitors.
Moving out of Escobar shadow
At 26 years after the infamous drug lord was killed, “The City of Eternal Spring” is now moving on and reinventing. This renaissance is noticeable in both places with deep rooted social problems; Santo Domingo – until recently an impenetrable slum of makeshift huts on a hillside in North Medellín and San Javier district also known as “Comuna 13” – an supra-populated and low-income area that crawls up along the hills from west of the city.
The first illegal settlements in Medellín were built by rural migrants who were escaping the political violence instituted in Colombia’s countryside in the 1950s. Fleeing the civil war and looking for opportunities, people built their houses using whatever materials could be gathered. Isolated and ignored by populist politicians, many slum residents were recruited by these guerrillas, gangs and paramilitaries that later controlled the neighborhoods. In the 1990s, the city was already known worldwide as the murder capital of the world.
Two public transport investments have made these profound transformations possible. First: The Medellin’s metro which in 2000 was linked with the Metro-Cable – a unique aerial cable car transport system connecting the city center to the sprawling hilltop slums on the city’s outskirts of Santo Domingo. Second: An enormous 384m roofed outdoor escalator build in 2011 as a unique and creative public transport option uniting Comuna 13 to the rest of Medellín.
By far the human factor remains decisive. The youth of the neighborhood took action in own ways focusing the energy in producing art. Local authorities provided youngsters paint tools to strengthen their sense of community and change frustration into a creative force. The sounds gunfire was replaced by music and graffiti, bringing the community closer together. Art saved the city as a medium for creative expression. The walls of the houses have become huge paintings that tell their own history, adorning the area and bringing hope and peace to the habitants and visitors.
