The challenge
Poor hillside neighborhoods were cut off from the city and plagued by violence.
The case
In 2004 Medellín, Colombia, opened Metrocable, a gondola line linking poor, steep hillside neighborhoods to the metro, cutting commutes that had taken hours. It was paired with libraries, parks and other public investments in the same areas. A study comparing neighborhoods along the line with similar ones elsewhere found violence fell substantially more in the Metrocable areas, and the city became an international model for urban transformation. Cerdá and colleagues found the homicide rate fell 66% more in neighborhoods along the line than in comparable control neighborhoods between 2003 and 2008.
Why it worked
Transport worked as part of a wider package of investment in neglected neighborhoods. Connecting excluded areas to the city sent a strong signal that residents mattered.
Sources
- Cerdá, M., et al. (2012). Reducing violence by transforming neighborhoods: A natural experiment in Medellín, Colombia. American Journal of Epidemiology.
- Cerdá, M., et al. (2012). Reducing violence by transforming neighborhoods: A natural experiment in Medellín, Colombia. American Journal of Epidemiology.
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