Latin America Meander: In Search of a New Civic Imagination

Teddy Cruz reviews the shifting political landscape of the last two decades in Latin America. Breaking from US dependency, the continent has charted an alternative course as municipalities have reconnected public policy, social justice and civic imagination. In order to address inequality, new models of urban development have been produced on sites of scarcity, and city mayors and administrations have been prepared to learn from each other through best practice. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bogotá and Medellín: Architecture and Politics

In the last 15 years, Bogotá and Medellín, Colombia's two largest cities, have undergone urban renaissances. These are a direct result of a political will to tackle the social, economic and physical segregation caused by the large-scale urban migrations of the 1970s and 1980s, which resulted in informal developments that were often isolated from central urban areas with no infrastructure. Lorenzo Castro and Alejandro Echeverri describe the shared experiences and distinct approaches of each city. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.