Living on the Edges of a Border City
Planning strategies for the spontaneous city. The Case of Cucuta and El Rodeo
F.L.G. BERNAL CARDENAS (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
L.M. De Carvalho Filho – Mentor (TU Delft - Spatial Planning and Strategy)
M.J. van Dorst – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Urban Studies)
Alvise Pagnacco – Coach (IUAV)
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Abstract
Cucuta is a border city between Colombia and Venezuela with complex dynamics due to its location and historical background, affected by drug trafficking, guerrilla warfare, and Venezuela's most recent multidimensional crisis. The city's structural plan (POT) is under review, trying to adapt to the local and global challenges: mass migration; social integration of communities in a post-conflict transition; an economic shift from a commercial dependency of the border into a self-productive region; the demand for housing and the occupation of high-risk areas, are some of the main aspects. These issues are more evident in the fringe areas of the city (edges), where informality is the main pattern of urban growth, with a later upgrade by the local government.
Then, how to achieve an inclusive urban development in the edges of a border city with rapid social and economic transformations?
This graduation project explores the process of urbanization in the edges of Cucuta and the implications of the border in the city's growth. The intention is to question the disparity between spatial planning and the spontaneous consolidation of the city's peripheries. In particular, this research focuses on one of these edges called 'El Rodeo', where more than 5,000 families have settled illegally during the last 20 years. Currently, there is a community development project for this area that involves multiple stakeholders, including the mayor's office. However, there is not a spatial strategy that envisions El Rodeo in the coming years.
Hopefully, the outcome of this work can be used as feedback for the planning office and inspire interventions in similar contexts.