Survival cities : adaptive approaches to violence and insecurity on the periphery of Bogotá

Abstract

In Latin America, the most violent and urbanized region of the developing world, violence and insecurity are among the most powerful issues facing cities. In Bogotá, Colombia, decades of armed conflict and structural dynamics of urbanization and exclusion act as the stage for pervasive violence in the urban periphery. The insecurity that residents of marginal areas face limits their physical, social, economic, and political mobility in diverse ways that reflect individuals' unique positions in the urban ecosystem. In this context, short- and medium-term responses that allow citizens to mitigate the instability and move forward with their lives are urgently needed. This thesis examines the various manifestations of violence and the spatial, sociopolitical, and economic security strategies that residents adopt to respond to these threats in the Municipality of Soacha, an urban extension of the capital city of Bogotá. By critically evaluating the ways in which citizens adapt to their insecure conditions and the implications these have for the city as a whole, the thesis makes a case for considering citizen adaptations on the periphery as the basis for sustainable urban change, calling into question the dominant security and planning paradigms. By looking to resident experiences with violence for cues, planners and policymakers can design more grounded and effective responses to insecurity and exclusion that allow communities to move toward a more integrated and productive urban reality.