An Accessibility Limbo: Learning from Formal-Informal Practices in the Social Housing Complex of Ciudad Verde, Soacha

Abstract

In Latin America, accessibility is increasingly becoming a priority in urban planning. Yet, looking closer and multidimensionally, its application tends to perpetuate socio-economic-spatial imbalances and segregation in the region by concentrating in few cities only. In addition, accessibility research and literature at the global scale usually over-focus on spatial and statistical analysis to the disregard of the concept’s social and intangible dimensions––as is digital accessibility. Through the case study of the social housing complex of Ciudad Verde, Soacha––to the southeast of Bogotá, Colombia––, I contribute qualitative depth to the ‘accessibility’ concept by looking at it through its intersection with sustainability and the ‘formality-informality’ continuum (Lévy, 2020). Within the framework of a larger research project on urban sustainability in Ciudad Verde (which conducted focal group interviews and map-based surveys), I also place due attention on digital accessibility through Facebook. I recognize the platform as an accessibility tool for residents and use it as a research methodology. This diverse range of evidence revealed limbic elements hindering accessibility in Ciudad Verde. By using the resulting accessibility limbo as an analytical lens, this dissertation extracts lessons on how the Colombian complex can unleash its accessibility and sustainability. I argue that local (in) formal practices of access hold the clues for this; since they point at the missing pieces from a multi-scalar and multidimensional standpoint.