Juan Bobo Creek: Bringing Community Youth Together

Essay, Middle Density, Politics and economics, Pure Space, Taller de Vivienda, Territory and mobility, Urban Paradigms

Active Public Spaces, Circulation, City of commons, Colombia, Communication, Community, Design strategies, Economy, Emergency architecture, Environment, Environmental, Health, Informal settlements, Local Awareness, low cost, Medellin, Open Space, Participation, Pedestrian realm, Politics, Project, Public engagement, Public housing, Public Space, Social culture, Territory, Topography, Transformation, Urban Development, Urban planning, Violence, Waste management, Water, Water infrastructure, Water level, Youth

Excerpt from Pure Space by Elisa Silva. Published by Actar Publishers -- https://actar.com/product/pure-space/

The Juan Bobo creek is part of Comuna 2, a densely populated urban district on the northeastern slopes of Medellin. As space for new homes ran out and demand for housing continued to increase, people built precarious structures directly over the creek, exposing themselves to the risk of floods and landslides. The City of Medellin relocated these families into new multifamily buildings nearby and transformed the banks of the creek into space for recreation and leisure. The intervention also incorporated bridges over the creek, bringing community youth together that had previously maintained antagonistic relationships.