"Medellín developed a model that many cities around the world could learn from. For instance, the local energy company, EPM, is neither private nor nationalised but owned by the city, and it was decided that its profits (about $450m a year) should be fed back into the city. Where most mayors, including London's, have to lobby central government for money, Medellín's have tremendous spending power. Alongside this public-private partnership, the mayors have actively sought out the advice of an architecture community trained in the problems of their own city. Again, this is all too rare. In a short space of time, Medellín has turned itself into a model Latin American city, with good transport, dynamic public spaces, new schools and a culture of civic architecture. The real design project, however, was one of social organisation, with a section of society grouping together and deciding to rewrite their city's story."

"Bienvenidos a Bogotá Urban Lab . Esta página Web fue creada por Trading Places, una red global de estudiantes de la ciudad que organiza conferencia itinerantes e intercambios virtuales alrededor del mundo. Buscamos promover el intercambio internacional de ideas e información sobre planeación y diseño urbano.<br />
Este es el producto de la Conferencia Itinerante de 2003 a Bogotá. Decidimos ampliar el objeto de esta página Web y convertirla en una plataforma para intercambiar información e ideas sobre la ciudad de Bogotá. Esta plataforma está abierta a quien tenga algo que contribuir.<br />
Esta página Web está en español y en inglés. Por favor utilicen el lenguaje con el cual se sientan más cómodos para comunicar sus ideas. Sus comentarios sobre cualquiera de los artículos y su participación en el foro son bienvenidos."<br />
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[via: http://www.urbanology.org/2005/01/26/bogota-at-the-edge-planning-the-barrios/ ]

"Happiness itself is a commons to which everyone should have equal access.

That’s the view of Enrique Peñalosa, who is not a starry-eyed idealist given to abstract theorizing. He’s actually a politician, who served as mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, for three years, and now travels the world spreading a message about how to improve quality-of-life for everyone living in today’s cities.

Peñalosa’s ideas stand as a beacon of hope for cities of the developing world, which even with their poverty and immense problems will absorb much of the world’s population growth over the next half-century. Based on his experiences in Bogotá, Peñalosa believes it’s a mistake to give up on these cities as good places to live."

"In Colombia, an eccentric former Bogota mayor may win the presidency. Antanas Mockus, the son of Lithuanian immigrants, is trying to succeed Alvaro Uribe, a U.S.-backed hard-liner who was prevented from running for a third term. However, Mockus, whose trademark is an Amish-style beard, is better known for his antics than his politics."