Changing the logic: bringing public space closer to citizens

In these past 20 years, Latin America has undergone a process of rapid-and, in many cases, improvised-urbanization. Increasingly extensive and populated cities, full of challenges, have become part of the new reality in the vast majority of countries. Today, 80% of the Latin American population lives in cities, a percentage that was unimaginable 30 years ago, and this trend will continue for at least another ten years.

This profound transformation has given way to a new way of conceiving andlivingthe city. The congested traffic that millions of Latin Americans who live in large cities face daily is, perhaps, the most evident impact for many. However, there are others that have struck deeper. The ways of relating and appropriating public space is, without a doubt, one of them.

Until a few years ago, the presence of underutilized public spaces, and even abandoned spaces, was not unusual in our region. Dark, dangerous parks, empty lots converted into garbage dumps and neglected and unsafe plazas were common in the Latin American urban landscape, especially in the large cities.

The relevance that cities have taken on, not just in terms of population but also with respect to wealth generation (cities generate more than 65% of regional GDP), have put the citizen at the center of the issue, and with it, the debate regarding the role of public space.

Thanks to a series of projects and studies undertaken in the past two decades in the region, today we know much more about the advantages of public spaces: they are great social equalizers, poles for promotion of economic activity and facilitators of cultural interchange.

"In Latin America, the public space is the democratic and meeting place par excellence, it is the space where all citizens, regardless of their condition, can enjoy as equals." Thus the fundamental role that cities have when promoting social inclusion, cohesion and interaction," states Enrique Garcia, Executive President of The CAF - Latin American Development Bank.

The entity has promoted various successful projects in several Latin American cities from a comprehensive and inclusive perspective, which has left great lessons learned. One of them is the importance of planning the public space as a system characterized by quality, accessibility and security.

"Today, we must generate public spaces of different scales so that they are close to citizens and so that everyone may have access, whether they live in the center or in neighborhoods on the outskirts," Garcia indicates.

According to the experience obtained by CAF in various cities of the region, the policies of increasing the quantity and quality of public space translate into a notable reduction of rates of violence and criminality, as well as a palpable improvement in the inhabitants' quality of life.  "Public spaces are very important for breaking territorial fragmentation, especially in conflict areas," states Garcia.

It is worth noting, however, that urbanization and this idea of thinking about "cities for people" is a worldwide trend. Thus comes the importance of knowing and obtaining experiences and successful practices that have been carried out in other parts of the world. For that, CAF also builds bridges among its network of European and Latin American academic allies in order to enrich the debate and contribute to developing innovative proposals.

With this objective in mind, the international seminar "Governance of Public Space in Latin American Cities. A Comparative Perspective," shall take place this Friday, September 30, in Bogota.  The event is organized by CAF, the prestigious French educational institution Sciences Po, and Externado University, in which authorities, experts and local actors from Latin America and France shall reflect on the current challenges of urban management.

It is worth mentioning that CAF and Sciences Po maintain a strategic alliance since 2010, which includes the CAF-Sciences Po Conference on Latin America in Paris, which has had three previous editions (2011, 2013 and 2015), as well as the granting of scholarships for Latin American students and researches, among other cooperation activities. This is the first joint activity that both institutions celebrate in the region.

The seminar has a special flavor, as it will advance some of the issues that will be discussed between October 17 and 20 in Habitat III, the most important summit meeting on urbanism worldwide, organized by the United Nations every 20 years and which shall take place in Quito.