**3.2 The transformation and "the Medellin" miracle**

*Sustainability in Urban Planning and Design*

using the provision of public services, such as water, as a means to engage in wider articulation of public purpose. This was facilitated by a system of urban governance that begins in the modern period in the 1940s by Sociedad de Mejoras Publicas (SMP), a private organisation, which drove urban planning and development in Medellin. This organisation had a strong influence over the public and private sectors: a relationship that was highly integrated according to Botero Herrera (1996). Through reforms, this entity evolved to become EPM, Medellin's first legally independent utility and single city-owned multi-utility corporation [38]. The entity is public however the boards have a commercial licence to explore the ways in which to improve service reliability and extend infrastructure without government driving decision-making. At the same time, there were/are several programs implemented with city government and utility management which fought business and guilds to

The governance of public services as a means to deliver wider public purpose emerged during the 1950s, with the Medellin Master Plan, which was developed to manage urban development and promote legislation that would impact infrastructure for housing, transport and infrastructure for utilities [38]. Planning for the city was done in an integrated manner by the municipality and with EPM. Several programs involved city-dwellers in the planning and provision of public services including Habilitacion Viviendas, literally meaning "Fitting Out Dwellings" spearheaded integration of new settlements in the city through a series of regulatory processes to obtain legality with utility connections as the point of contact between user and duty-bearer (the state) [38]. Connection to public services such as water was one of several ways these plans had an impact on the city's planning activities. Changing migration patterns related to the conflict, internal issues in Medellin and worsening political and economic conditions during the 1970s intensified the need for engagement between users and city-planning activities [39]. In the 1990s, following a rapidly changing regulatory environment, EPM commercialised, while remaining still the property of the municipality which has raised questions about the future of the company and its objectives of delivering public purpose. While this is a vibrant and active debate, the governance and the role it has played historically

pursue programs aimed at wider, long-term public goals [38].

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**Figure 1.**

*Medellin municipality, including socio-economic tiers (Furlong [40]).*

Descriptions of the transformation that brought the city through decades of conflict include the role of civil society, the multi-utility EPM and public architecture which highlights the role mayors of Medellin who were committed to a vision of public purpose. Success has also been linked to a succession of leaders, namely the city mayors Luis Perez (2001–2003), Sergio Fajardo (2004–2007) and Alonzo Salazar (2008–2011), all highly qualified with a vision of public purpose for the city beyond traditional politics [41–43]. Programs shared similarities with the concept of social urbanism which focused public investment in the city's more deprived areas through high-quality infrastructure and striking architecture [23].

Medellin's transformation garnered international and national recognition. Described as the "Medellin Miracle" particularly in the areas of social urbanism and mobility, there are several features in the Medellin context associated with its "perceived success" which are part of the landscape of an integrated and adaptive society [21]. Success in Medellin from a social perspective is associated with a range of factors: cultural aspects of the entrepreneurial class (Antioquian people with a strong work ethic, Catholic, close-knit community) associated with a strong business elite and a sense of duty, decentralised governance structure of Colombia, public trust, regional pride, high returns on human development, disciplined business culture and well-educated elite that serve in the public sector [33, 44].

Municipal programs have played a significant role in integrating and normalising informal sectors during the transformation of the early 2000s and beyond [23]. These programs emerged in response to barriers such as social inequality, spatial segregation, under/unemployment, social exclusion, weak state control, insufficient provision of essential services and housing density. These programs also existed alongside strong paramilitary and police presence in surrounding areas. This pressure to respond created a dichotomy of investment in social programs to "improve people" and "excessive policing" to "control undesirables" [45].
