Medellín Steps Up for Democracy
What do escalators have to do with democracy?
Sounds like a riddle, right? Well, as with most riddles, the answer is pretty obvious when you hear it. In this case, Medellín, Colombia’s second city, provides the clue.
Medellín has a lot going for it, starting with an impressive setting in an expansive valley ringed by green mountains. With its tropical latitude, you might expect the climate to be hot and sticky. But those mountains mean altitude, and that’s why Medellín famously enjoys an “eternal spring.” Because it’s at 1500 meters (or about 4900 feet) above sea level, nearly every day is warm without being uncomfortable, and the nights are really pleasant. Though it lacks the sultry climate you might associate with Latin America, the way Medellín has developed is similar to many other cities in the region.
Medellín and its mountains
Image | DavidPLP
Medellín’s urban core was built up in the fertile valley floor in centuries past. In more recent decades, the city has grown rapidly, and spread up the steep mountainsides. However, Medellín’s infrastructure (including housing, roads, transportation, and sanitation networks) did not expand fast enough to serve all the new people who had come to the city. One result is that many people began living in informal settlements (pejoratively known as “slums”) on the mountainsides. These were typically the least desirable parts of town, disconnected from the city grid, with difficult terrain and higher rates of both crime and poverty.
The entrance to one of Medellín’s escalators
Image | Nigel Burgher
Many of those settlements on the steep slopes are still home to Medellín’s most disadvantaged communities. But thanks to progressive leadership, in the last decade they are much better connected to the city, with better public services—and getting around can be as easy as taking an escalator. Starting in 2011, the city started building escalators specifically to link those disadvantaged communities to the urban core. And it’s not only escalators: in some places, cable cars whisk people from the heights to the valley and vice versa.
Medellin’s glass-covered escalators crawl their way up the slopes.
Image | Nigel Burgher
If you go to Medellín, you can visit those escalators yourself. The best thing is to look for a guided tour of Comuna 13 (which is the main neighborhood where the escalators are located). Going with a guide is the safest and most respectful way to visit, so that you’re not just some gawking tourist in a part of town that still has some challenges. There are multiple companies that offer these tours; a quick scan on Trip Advisor should show you the ones with the best reviews.
One of Medellín’s cable cars
Image | Ben Bowes
Medellín is definitely worth a visit if you’re exploring South America. Besides that impressive setting and beguiling climate, this is quite an innovative and civilized place. In fact, it’s won a number of awards for its urban design and planning. So it’s easy to fill a few days of sightseeing… or like many in Medellín’s expat population, you might become seduced by its attractions and find yourself hanging out for weeks or months on end. And by now it’s become a cliche, though I find it true: Colombians are some of the friendliest people anywhere.
Downtown Medellín’s art and architecture
Image | Reg Natarajan
So then, what do escalators have to do with democracy? As Medellín shows, a healthy society is inclusive. Democracy is seriously flawed when some groups of people are systematically disadvantaged, whether politically, economically, or culturally. Living in a precarious informal settlement on an urban mountainside, largely cut off from city services, anyone would encounter major barriers to participating as a fully equal member of society. That kind of entrenched exclusion undercuts the civic vitality necessary for a robust democracy.
Medellín’s escalators sew the city’s fabric together, connect people to their community, and make that community more inclusive. The metaphor is almost too easy: the escalators are engines of social mobility, steps up toward more equal participation for people from disadvantaged backgrounds. This is a lesson that other cities and countries could stand to learn too.
