Urban renovation in the edges of the city: An urban acupuncture exercise in Arequipa and Bogotá

Abstract

This paper integrates, in light of the concept of urban acupuncture, two case studies developed by researchers from Peru and Colombia, around the problem of the systemic integration of urban edges to the formal dynamics of the city, focusing on urban renewal committed to improving the periphery zones that have situations of high risk and unplanned growth, historically forgotten by the conventional methodologies of urban and territorial planning. These zones are marked by situations of fragmentation and physical and social precariousness and negatively affect the conditions of habitability, governability, productivity, and connectivity of the city. The Peruvian case offers a methodology that integrates the notions of urban catalysis, the social construction of habitat and participatory design. The Colombian case proposes a planning instrument that, from the definition of urban renewal criteria in depressed peripheral environments, allows the establishment, based on the so-called socio-spatial consistency, of a strategy for addressing areas of high environmental, physical and social risk, due to the development of networks of facilities and services related to housing and other compatible land use. As a result, a comparative analysis is proposed, contributing to a re-semantic approach to urban planning, incorporating the periphery and facing marginality.