Julio spoke about "The social impact of urban infrastructure investments", using transport as a case study. With an attendance of 400 people, including business people, local and national government officials, NGOs and the general public, the conference has become a main event in the Colombian Caribbean region's annual calendar.
Julio's talk arose out of a research project funded by the Boston-based Lincoln Institute of Land Policy on the links between transport investment, poverty and land use in Barranquilla's metropolitan area, involving a local university (Universidad del Norte), a local think-tank (Fundesarrollo), and an investment promotion agency (ProBarranquilla), as well as other UCL based researchers (Daniel Oviedo from DPU and Prof. Nick Tyler from CEGE).
Outputs from the research will be made available via DPU's website later this year.