Radical Responses: Architects and Architecture in Urban Development as a Response to Violence in Medellín, Colombia

Abstract

This study looks at the innovative urban regeneration now known as “social urbanism” seen in Medellín, Colombia, with a specific focus on how architects and architectural processes were utilized in urban development approaches by the mayors in their innovative responses to tackling the socioeconomic problems in marginalized areas of the city that was declared the most violent city in the world in 1991. It serves as a discourse on the role of professional groups, in this case, architects, and the role of inclusive design process in conflict transformation by building on the literature relating to peace building and urban regeneration and uses primary qualitative research and secondary quantitative research and reports, offering personal perceptions of the responses adopted. The findings show the influence of the mayors’ policies on the way that architects now operate and also on how these architects were used to imbue a philosophy and mentality of inclusive design that permeates the city. The greatest innovations that came out of the responses were the adoption of collaborative approaches, building on community strengths and the development of a multidisciplinary, collaborative approach to design that increased social, human, and physical capital and contributed to increasing the legitimacy of the state.