The Smart City of Medellín, its achievements and potential risks

Abstract

Medellín, a city in Colombia, is known for its resurrection from the status of the most dangerous city in the world to that of the most innovative one (awarded in 2013). The paper discusses the achievements of Medellín as a Smart City, which include, among others, the popularisation of Internet usage, optimisation of the urban transportation system with a reduction in traffic accidents, development of a mass transportation system with a cable car for a famous city in the developing world, improved security, together with an efficient crime reporting system and environmental risk monitoring. The potential risks involved in the implementation of ICT in city management are also discussed, related mostly to social exclusion and the actual distribution of the benefit coming from the Smart City. When compared with European cities, the additional barriers that the Colombian city needs to overcome are very high social inequalities, endemic crime, and topographic difficulties. This Latin American perspective can make clearer the difference between the Smart City in cities of the Global North vs Global South.

A Public Policy for Social Innovation: Lessons From Colombia in a Nutshell

“…Since 2004, innovative policies and programs have been implemented in education, civic culture, coexistence and social urbanism of high international recognition. Interestingly, many of these innovations have been technological in nature; their purpose has been to promote the city's urban development and turn it into a 'Smart City' (Biczyńska, 2019). However, the abundant social problems embodied in the city have become the terrain for these technological innovations to be turned into opportunities for social innovation.…”