The UVAs : a social infrastructure
Hey to you all, it's Villes Ouvertes.
We are currently in Medellin, Colombia, which has gone from being the most violent city
to the most inclusive on the continent.
So we'll try to understand how the city rebuilt a direct relation with its citizens by opening ecological spaces
for social gatherings and giving access to culture through libraries or UVAs.
To start with, we must realize how much Medellin has evolved in the last 15 years.
To do so, we went to meet Juan David to tell us more about the city's history
and the tense political climate that reigned over it due to the narco-traffickers.
Inside Medellin, appeared these characters who were called "the magicians".
They became rich through cocaine, and from there, they built a whole mafia.
As we will see in the next video, Medellin was built in a valley,
and the poorest neighborhoods have developed on the mountains,
which totally excludes them from the rest of the city.
The narco-traffickers arrived precisely where the state was not present.
And these criminal organizations were able to take root in these poor neighborhoods, spreading terror and violence.
The narco-traffickers have begun to take control of the neighborhoods.
From this territorial control began some wars,
because we returned to a feudal system, as in Game of Thrones.
Narco-traffickers became micro-states that directed much of the organizational aspects of society.
And for years, the state has failed to reclaim these lost territories, and left the poor in their misery.
So it created a vicious circle.
Someone has been telling you since you were a child that you are a problem,
that your neighborhood, your family, your friends are a problem,
and everything you do is a problem. What are you supposed to become? A problem!
When this perspective changed, these neighborhoods became more than just a problem.
They started to be part of the solution. That's why they were integrated to the rest of the city.
Precisely, one of the elements of solution to re-integrate these violent neighborhoods
and the population who lived there, was social infrastructure.
That's when libraries were built. But what are they exactly ?
The city has developed the library system, the cultural centers and the UVAs for the past 15 years.
The goal of the libraries was to bring quality infrastructure and services to the areas that needed them most in the city,
and to show the power of culture to transform the territories.
So it was not just a physical transformation of the places,
but it also generated more opportunities and cultural spaces.
These are spaces that, in addition to receiving workshops and courses,
are spaces for civic meetings and for the construction of citizenship.
Even the public company of Medellin participated in this infrastructure by creating Units of Articulated Life,
also called UVA's. So what are the UVA's exactly?
Originally they were drinking water tanks that EPM had in the city.
Around these tanks were created the UVAs, built by architects
to meet the need for sustainable development in the communities.
These are spaces that the community has appropriated
through the activities and programs that we offer, through the EPM Foundation.
Officially, the EPM website has defined three goals for the UVAs:
Develop dynamic spaces for culture and recreation
Give visibility to the themes of water, energy, and ecology,
so that the community can relate to its environment.
Promote the appropriation and management of spaces for public use by promoting social inclusion
So, we went to meet its users to see if the objectives are reached
My name is Maria Francisca Tapias. I have lived here in Medellin for more than 50 years.
I live right next to the UVA, the UVA imagination.
And here we do gymnastics. It is a social meeting point opened to all the people who want to come.
The development has been enormous in recent years,
and the UVAs are transforming the sectors where they are located.
By installing the UVAs, we create spaces of citizenship where people can come to make physical activates,
use the internet for free and use the computers if they do not have one
And it is very important for the community and that brings it great development.
All this is transforming the lives of these children, these young people, they will have other life options,
other ways of seeing the world, it will change the way young people are connected to their environment
and to others and that obviously has an impact on the city.
In fact, the city was betting on the fact that culture was the most effective weapon against narco traffickers.
Culture is a means of expression as a citizen, but it is above all a tool for resolving conflicts and violence
and for building social cohesion at the community level.
And it seems like a winning bet !
These projects that we have to bring quality infrastructure and cultural programs
to the communities of Medellin has proven to be fundamental for the transformation of the city.
They take a child out of the violence, but in a distinct way.
They don't put him in jail for example, which has become a school for delinquents,
but rather by taking him in another place, through music for example.
Let's say that a young person who has experienced these artistic and cultural workshops
has other ways of resolving conflicts has another type of relationship with others
and it greatly diminishes the violence. So yes the impact is important.
And we'll talk more about it in the video about the Comuna 13 !
Another challenge of the city was also to bet on the impact that architecture could have on urban development.
For example, during the inauguration of the library, the former mayor, Sergio Fajardo, said:
"architecture sends an important political message. When we build the most beautiful buildings of the city
in the city in the poorest neighborhoods, that gives a sense of dignity. "
I believe that this first stage of aesthetics was fundamental for citizen ownership.
Architectural intervention has the potential to change realities.
With this expertise, architecture and design, people can change their use and imagination.
The city, by building these places, changes people, and people change places by relating to them !
In fact, architecture can then be a tool for social development.
But even if these initiatives are to be noted,
the case of the Española library also reveals the limits Medellin is facing.
Today, It's libraries realised to be a great building to attract people
Just two years after it was inaugurated, the Bibliotheca de España Park fell!
It was an urbanism that developed hyper fast but the consequences were not thought out, not planned,
so there are now many problems that are not resolved
So the question today is where is Medellin , which is known as the innovator in social urbanism in latin america and even in the world, is going ?
Will it be able to continue in that way despite the change in political governance ?
However, if these criticisms are more than legitimate, the transformation of the city is still admirable.
Of course there are disadvantaged sectors, conflicts and problems.
It will exist whatever the context.
But the quality of life in general, through social inversion in Medellin has increased.
Well, that's all for today !
We have seen how, through the development of social infrastructure,
Medellin has shifted from the most violent city to the most inclusive city in Latin America.
The municipality has relied on culture and architecture as a weapon against violence.
And while much remains to be done and some critics appear, it looks like it's a winning bet.
We are already preparing the next video about the role of transportation in this urban transition.
In the meantime, we invite you to follow us on facebook, Instagram and youtube,
and we leave you with these few inspiring words from Oscar.
Think about responsible consumption, good quality, valuing the work of others.
And every time you consume something, you have a significant impact on the other side of the world.
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