Local governance, urban mobility and poverty reduction. Lessons from Medellin, Colombia

This project examines the links between mobility, poverty reduction, social inclusion and urban integration. It seeks to learn from a critical assessment of a set of interventions fostered by the local government of Medellín, Colombia's second largest city. The introduction of two aerial cable-car lines (‘Metrocables’) linked to the city's mass-transit system, is one of the interventions which apparently increased accessibility for the local population while integrating these previously no-go areas to the rest of the city. The research also seeks to examine the transferability of aerial cable-car technology to cities with similar topographic, institutional and socio-economic conditions in Latin America and elsewhere. Funded by ESRC and DFID.