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There are some lessons to be learned from Medellin's commitment to putting the concepts of accountability, transparent public processes, a commitment to open public spaces, the culture of citizenship, high quality for all, and real delivery into practice.
 I HAVE been away for the past week and will be away again from the middle of next week so I thought it would be a good opportunity to share with you the story of Medellin which was recently written up by Warren Feek, the executive director of the Communication Initiative.
Medellín is the second largest city in Colombia and is located in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northern regions of the Andes mountains in South America. Size-wise the city is larger than Joburg, with a population of 2,5 million, but it has a metropolitan population similar to ourselves at more than 3,2 million.
This article shows just what can be achieved when there is unity of purpose and all those words we so readily mouth but which are so seldom put into practice - accountability, transparent public processes, a commitment to open public spaces, the culture of citizenship, high quality for all and real delivery.
Medellin
"Can there be any argument with a policy that drives strategies and programmes that reduces homicides from 184 to 26 per 100 000 adults over a five-year period [2003 to 2007]; significantly raises a city's Human Development Index score [74.35 in 2001 to 80.4 in 2006]; sees the Quality of Life Index zoom upwards [68.09 in 2001 to 83.77 in 2006]; and makes considerable economic gains for that city?
"Not to mention puts more smiles than frowns on people's faces and more pride than shame in their hearts? Such is the case of Medellin, a city of 2,5 million people in Colombia, and how it happened, and continues to happen, may have significant policy lessons across many aspects of international development.
"Mention Medellin and most people - including me before a recent visit - immediately conjure images of drug cartels and unmitigated violence. Life was cheap. Hit men were abundant. Crime was endemic. Poverty was rife. Though a wealthy city the great majority of that wealth, including the tax pesos contributed by all, were in the hands of a very few.
"There were numerous ‘no-go' dangerous areas for public officials who were anyway severely mistrusted, often for good reason. The cartels ran the poor barrios where 90 percent of the population of Medellin lived. Factions fought. Schooling was poor quality. Housing was primarily ‘informal'.
"Medellin had these and other issues that are too commonly experienced across far too many cities. But that is a view of Medellin that is five years out of date, as indicated above.
Transformation
"The prime driving force for transforming Medellin into a comparatively safe, economically advancing and educated city is a set of public policies built around open public spaces; transparent public processes; the culture of citizenship; high quality for all; and striking symbolism, including [you need to stick with me here] cable cars, library parks, bridges, budget control and a botanical garden! There is still much to be done but huge amounts have been achieved.
"The response of most cities to rising violence [and Medellin had the highest homicide rates in the world] is to close things down and to contain - to increase security, make that security increasingly visible and forceful and ensure that the places that the elite gather, live and work are comparatively safe. For many years, Medellin took that approach. It did not work. So, they took a 180 degree turn and opened everything up!
"In the poorest and most violent communities, library parks were built. Five library parks operate at present, and many more are planned. These are as they sound - a combination of places of learning [library] and play [park]. They are places for the community to gather, to talk, to organise, to make and perform music, poetry and dance, to access other ideas [thousands of books and hundreds of computer terminals with broadband access], to network and to discover. The buildings and services are high quality. They are designed to be open - with numerous fully open access points [no entry gates or guards] and large numbers of open spaces as gathering and discussion venues. Security is minimal and never armed.
Library parks
"The Library Parks have become both hugely popular and appropriated by communities. Closed doors have been replaced by open spaces - physically and psychologically.
"Moravia is a very poor barrio in Medellin that was renowned for the worst violence. A significant venue for that violence was a local creek across which two communities used to shoot at each other. So, the city bought the houses either side of the creek at above market value, demolished those houses and on one side of the creek built a library park and on the other an open green park.
"The library park was the last building designed by Colombia's most famous architect - extremely high quality. But what was striking was the symbolism. They built three pedestrian bridges over the creek - actually and symbolically linking the two communities. And rather than forget the people who lived there, the names of those families whose houses were purchased are engraved into the glass side of the building. That symbolism resonated with significant meaning well beyond the 100 metres either side of the creek.
"The library park is incredibly well used. The shooting did not go to another location! It dramatically reduced.
Cable cars and bridges
"Medellin is in a very steep valley. As with so many cities, the economically poorest communities live on the outside in informal settlements. In Medellin, that means living on the side of mountain cliffs over a thousand feet high. It is a precarious existence. So the city built some cable cars - not just any old cable cars, but gondola style ones that would be the pride of any French ski resort.
"The effect was enormous and, according to the locals, immediate. It opened the community. For those that had a job, the previous two-hours-each-way bus ride over snaky, narrow roads was replaced by a 20-minute journey in comfort.
"Family-, friend- and community-time increased from both quantity and quality perspectives. Many people's houses were now open to all to see from the gondolas. We are all vain and proud and when people can see your house you take extra steps to make that house attractive and safe. This has a knock-on effect.
"With more people spending more time in their communities, businesses began to flourish. In one barrio there were 10 businesses before the cable car and now there are hundreds - mostly locally commenced, owned and managed.
"Services came: there was no bank before - now there are banks; health facilities arrived. More bridges were built. The cracks down the mountainside divided communities. Suspicion and inter-community violence were rampant. So, pedestrian bridges were built across the ‘cracks' to link these communities.
"The spaces below the cable cars were made into walkways. People use these as connection points. This space, openness and connectivity are transforming these areas. Some of the most well-used libraries are at the entrance to the cable cars - people spend their time reading while travelling.
"In the end, it often comes down to money. In development, we always seem to be so reluctant to hand over the purse strings to people in their communities. Not Medellin; 7 percent of the city's core budget - $70-million (R705-million) - is now directly controlled by representative committees in some of the poorest communities in Medellin.
"Part of the agreement with the city by these communities is that they will go through a two-step process: first, consultation within the communities on priorities; and, then, allocation and monitoring of resources related to the agreed priorities. But the decisions are all their own.
"So, a community in a poor barrio can be responsible for millions of dollars of local expenditure. For those of us in development action, the stock-in-trade of governance and democracy progress is accountability, participation, and transparency.
"Medellin has that in bucket-fulls. The people involved in deciding how these funds will be spent live in the communities in which they are spending! Everyone in those communities knows how much there is to spend and what the priorities are. These local decision makers see their friends, family and fellow community members all the time. Dialogue, transparency and accountability are high. Good decisions are made."
Hmm, makes you think, more next week.
Ciao, Neil
Walking Tour: Cottesloe, Vrededorp and Fietas
Saturday, 25 October
This working class area is filled with exciting history. Land was granted to "the indigent people" by Paul Kruger in 1893 and named the Place of Peace. Yet it was the scene of fighting in the 1922 strike, and again in the later elections.
With the forced removals of the Indian community another battle was waged, partly through the courts.
The tour goes from the old Cottesloe School with its bullet holes and the Oudstryders Monument, to the Moerdyk Church on the hill (inside tour) down to Solomon Street, Twelfth Street and House Patel in Fourteenth Street, then winds back along De la Rey Street to the school.
Meet Flo Bird and William Gaul at 2pm at New Nation School inside the school grounds. The cost is R55 for members and R75 for non-members. For more information, telephone Eira Bond on weekdays between 9am and 1pm on 011 482 3349.
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