The urban transformation of Medellín: confluence of innovation processes and transformation limits

Jorge Robledo Velásquez, Walter Lugo Ruiz Castañeda and María Luisa Villalba Morales

Chapter 19 in Research Handbook on Regions and Transformative Innovation Policy, 2026, pp 311-329 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: In response to the severe drug-related crisis of the 1990s, Medellín embarked on a long transformation journey, achieving notable changes in urban public mobility, citizen security, civic culture, and public spaces. These results have earned Medellín international recognition; it is often hailed as a ‘miracle city’. The transformation emerged from a series of interconnected innovation processes driven primarily by local public policies. These policies suffer from problems of directionality, coherence, reflexivity, and learning, and an overly top-down approach, all within a turbulent regional context that the city has struggled to manage effectively. As a result, the transformation reached its limits with the goal of building a peaceful, inclusive, and just city only partially realised. Medellín thus represents a case of emerging and incomplete urban transformation that requires renewed momentum through transformative innovation policies that will drive the city toward the future its citizens aspire to.

Keywords: Medellín; Urban transformation; Innovation processes; Urban services; Transformation limits; Social urbanism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035309924
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