Mobilizing legal expertise in and against cities: urban planning amidst increased legal action in Bogotá

Abstract

ABSTRACT In the past decade, there has been a rise in legal action around urban policy and planning in Colombia. Legal expertise has been mobilized by a plethora of actors, including social movements, local politicians, neighborhood groups and individual citizens. This has resulted in legal experts and judges often dictating how social housing, transport corridors, public space, or waste management schemes ought to be implemented by municipal administrations. In this context, mayors and planners complain that the increasing involvement of the judiciary in urban planning drains local resources and undermines the power of mayors to set and implement the political agenda they were democratically elected to execute. In this article, we analyze the rise of legal action against urban planning in Bogotá and conclude by proposing a research agenda for socio-legal and urban scholars interested in further exploring the potential implications of the increasing mobilization of legal expertise in urban planning.