Abstract With the consolidation of democratic governments in the 1980s and 1990s, wholesale evictions of entire neighbourhoods ceased to be a solution to urban problems in Latin America. This paper discusses an example of a new generation of municipal programmes aimed at physically upgrading informal settlements while integrating them both physically and socially into the fabric of the city. In Medellín, a city with a recent history of violence and social inequality, the audacious use of well-established ski-slope aerial cable-car technology in dense and hilly low-income informal settlements was followed by major neighbourhood upgrading comprising new social housing, schools and other social infrastructure, as well as support to micro-enterprises. Although lack of mobility contributes to social inequality and poverty, the paper argues that the introduction of quick-fix highly visible transport technology on its own is unlikely to help reduce poverty. Although urban upgrading programmes and the symbolic value of cable-car systems have instilled among the local population a feeling of inclusion and integration into the ‘modern’ city, they can also be understood as mechanisms for the ‘normalisation’ of informal sectors of the city. Keywords: mobilitypublic transportMedellínsettlement upgradingpovertyaerial cable-cars Notes This paper is based on an ongoing research project undertaken by the Development Planning Unit, University College London (UCL) in collaboration with the Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Medellín campus), the Universidad de los Andes (Bogotá) and UCL's Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering. For more information see www.ucl.ac.uk/dpu/metrocables. It is the first systematic appraisal of the pioneering experience of Medellín and looks to provide pointers for successful application in other cities of the world. The research (Grant RES-167-25-0562) is funded by the UK Government through the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Department for International Development (DFID) joint scheme for Research on International Development (Poverty Alleviation). This paper does not necessarily reflect the views of either DFID or ESRC. It is the result of a team effort by the two authors along with a number of colleagues in Medellín: Professor Françoise Coupé, Professor Iván Sarmiento, Angela Mejía, Juan G. Cardona and Laura Agudelo. The authors gratefully acknowledge comments from a number of commentators, including Professor Alan Gilbert and Dr Pushpa Arabindoo, from UCL; it also benefited from inputs from our London colleagues: Caren Levy, Prof. Nick Tyler and Diane Daste. Although much reduced in volume, urban evictions have not disappeared altogether and in fact seem to have made a come back in recent years (COHRE, 2009 COHRE. 2009. Global Survey on Forced Evictions: Violations of Human Rights, 2007–2008, Geneva: Centre of Housing Rights and Evictions. [Google Scholar]), as centrally located areas with market potential are occasionally cleared in bids to build or expand infrastructure through ‘large urban projects’ (Lungo and Smolka, 2005 Lungo, M. and Smolka, M. 2005. Land value and large urban projects: the Latin American experience. Land Lines, 17(1) [Google Scholar]), and generally ‘modernise’ the image of the city to make it more appealing both to a local cosmopolitan elite and to international visitors. In Colombia, one of the consequences of the long-standing internal conflict has been the vast displacement of rural populations fleeing violence and persecution by left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups, making the country's internally displaced population one of the largest in the world. Most internally displaced people end up largely in peripheral locations of medium-sized and large cities, where many receive assistance from a number of agencies including local and central government bodies (cf. www.defensoria.org.co). The Municipality of Medellín, with an urban population of 2.2 million in 2005, comprises 16 Comunas (districts). Line K traverses Comunas 1 and 2, with a combined population of 230,000 in 2005. Line J passes through Comunas 7 and 13, with a population of 295,000. Each comuna is further divided into barrios, of which there are 13 in Comuna 1, 11 in Comuna 2, 9 in Comuna 7 and 19 in Comuna 13. Medellín is the largest and richest of the nine municipalities that comprise the Medellín metropolitan area, with a combined urban population of 3.1 million in 2005 (source: www.dane.gov.co). Personal interviews with former mayor Luis Pérez, and with Ramiro Márquez, General Manager of Metro de Medellín (September 2010). The remaining 45% was funded by the Metro company. The municipality was also forced to financially under-write the project, given the reluctance of international insurance firms to under-write what was regarded as the possible object of terrorist attacks (personal interview with former mayor Luis Pérez). Created in 1979 under the official name ‘Empresa de Transporte Masivo del Valle de Aburrá Limitada’, the Metro company is jointly owned by the Municipality of Medellín and by the province (‘Departamento’) of Antioquia, of which Medellín is the capital, each with 50% ownership. This is helped by the fact that five out of nine of its current board members are prominent local businessmen appointed by the central government; the other four comprise two representatives each of the mayor of the Municipality of Medellín and of the governor of Antioquia province. Launch of Medellín's BRT is planned for the end of 2011. In mid-2011, the Metro's single tariff for any length of journey stands at Col$1750 (US$0.97), the frequent travellers fare at Col$1450 (US$0.80) and a combined Metro–bus fare at Col$2000 (US$1.10). The basic conventional bus fare is Col$1500 (US$0.83). By comparison, the minimum daily legal wage is around US$11, including an 11.7% transport subsidy component. The return-trip on the tourist aerial cable-car to Parque Arví (Line L) costs an additional Col$2500. PUIs are defined as a ‘model of intervention aimed at transforming positively, through social, physical and inter-institutional components, a specific urban space, by incorporating all elements of development in a parallel and planned manner, through infrastructure works with the highest quality standards, and with an ingredient of community participation so as to ensure their sustainability’ (Medellín-EDU, 2011 Medellín-EDU. 2011. Proyectos Urbanos Integrales www.edu.gov.co (accessed 1 June 2011) [Google Scholar]). Though public works have a clear attraction mainly for local skilled or unskilled workers who are guaranteed to be employed if only for short periods, not all decisions have involved building infrastructure. The communities in Comunas 1 and 2 agreed to use part of these funds to finance 700 scholarships for local young people to pursue studies at university level. Given the origins of the neighbourhoods as illegal land invasions, where land titles have only recently been granted, the vast majority of property transactions is officially unrecorded. Officially registered residential property transactions in Comunas 1 and 2 increased from 713 in 2000 to 1256 in 2004 and 2590 in 2007 (source: Medellín Mayor's Office—Registro de Instrumentos Públicos, Secretaría de Hacienda—Subsecretaria de Catastro). By 2010 a handful of small estate agents had made their appearance. Official figures for these indices are aggregated at the level of comuna and cannot be further disaggregated to examine the possible impact that the cable-cars might have had within a given distance of the stations. The search for normalising the informal is also a feature of the Delhi metro, inaugurated in 2002 (Semiaticky, 2006 Semiaticky, M. 2006. Message in a metro: building urban rail infrastructure and image in Delhi, India. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 30(2): 277–292. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). The Medellín Metro company has long promoted what it calls ‘Cultura Metro’, a set of norms of behaviour strictly enforced within the space of the Metro system, supplemented by a system of lending libraries. In its 2009 annual report, the company argues that the Metro is ‘more than a mode of transport … it is a lifestyle, a place for social and cultural encounters’ (Metro de Medellín, 2009 Metro de Medellín. 2009. Informe Corporativo 2009, Medellín. [Google Scholar], p. 23). Additional informationNotes on contributorsPeter BrandPeter Brand is Principal Lecturer at the School of Urban and Regional Planning, Universidad Nacional de Colombia (Medellín campus). Email: pbrand@unal.edu.coJulio D. DávilaJulio D. Dávila is Principal Investigator of the research project on which this paper is based, and is a Senior Lecturer with the Development Planning Unit, University College London.