Abstract:
Interventions of the built environment at the neighborhood level allow for evaluating the effects of these changes on sociodemographic variables of the residents. In 2011, the local mayor's office of Medellín-Colombia began the construction of outdoor escalators in Las Independencias neighborhood to improve transportation times for its residents. This study assesses the effect of urban renewal on the violence and average income of Las Independencias. Mixed methods are used, employing a quasi-experimental design in which the synthetic control method is utilized to estimate the causal effect and a thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews is applied to identify mechanisms of change. To assess the impact on the homicides per km2, 14 neighborhoods are used in the donor pool and 10 neighborhoods for the average household income. Regarding the qualitative methods, 10 semi-structured interviews were analyzed with an average of 24 minutes. It was not possible to draw causal effect conclusions of the effect of the change in built environment over homicides due to a poor fit of the pre-intervention trends. However, one year before the intervention, Las Independencias had a homicide rate of .118 per km2 (way above synthetic Las Independencias 0.0981) and one year after the intervention this rate was (.0157373) below the synthetic control (0.049). The residents of the neighborhood perceive that crime has decreased in recent years and attribute the change to the investment in the escalators, which has generated a chain of events that over time had a positive impact on security. The mechanisms through which the escalators produced this impact are identified in the interviews: the strengthening of social efficacy, greater police and State presence, greater job opportunities, reduction of relative depravity and the interest of the Combos in maintaining security. Regarding the average household income, the quantitative results estimate that in the period immediately after the construction of the stairs, the income of Las Independencias decreased more than that of the synthetic control, indicating a negative effect. From 2013 to 2016 there is evidence of a positive trend, but it is still below the synthetic control and only in 2017 is there a positive effect compared to the synthetic Las Independencias. In 2019, a significant drop in income is observed compared to the synthetic control. The qualitative results indicate that the impact of the escalators was consolidated until 2016 with a greater influx of tourists. Residents believe that economic opportunities have improved, the quality of life has increased, and the neighborhood has become an ""economic paradise."" The dependence on tourism meant that in 2019 COVID strongly affected the finances of the neighborhood, which is reflected in the quantitative results. The results of this study show that in the context of low and middle-income countries, low-cost structural interventions can be conducted that impact people's quality of life, their possibilities to generate income, and their security.
Citación recomendada (normas APA)
Estefania Ramírez Castillo, "Stairway To Heaven: Changing a Violent Neighborhood in Medellín Through Urban Renovation. A Mixed Methods Evaluation", Medellín (Colombia):-, 2022. Consultado en línea en la Biblioteca Digital de Bogotá (https://www.bibliotecadigitaldebogota.gov.co/resources/3711691/), el día 2025-03-21.
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