gondolas in medellin

1. HOW SMART TRANSPORTATIONIN LATIN AMERICA
IS RE-SHAPING MARGINALIZED
COMMUNITIES
GONDOLA’S IN
MEDELLI
N
COLOMBIA by Andrew Gingerich and Ramya
Ramachandrula

2. MEDELLIN: A VIOLENT
HISTORYBETWEEN THE 80S AND
90S, MEDELLIN WAS THE
MURDER
CAPITAL OF THE WORLD.
CENTRAL OPERATIONS
OF PABLO ESCOBAR.
380 MURDERS PER
100,000 PEOPLE.
6,349 MURDERS IN 1991

3. MEDELLIN: THE
BARRIO
S
CHARACTERISTICS
FORM ON CITY
PERIPHERALS SUFFER
FROM BLIGHT IRREGULAR
URBAN FABRIC LACK
BUILDING CODES LACK
CITY SERVICES( WATER,
ELECTRIC, WASTE

4. RISEOF THE GONDOLAS
THEMETROCABLE
CABLE PROPELLED
TRANSIT(CPT) 2004, FIRST
GONDOLA(LINEA K) WAS
INSTALLED IN THE BARRIO,
SANTO DOMINGO, WITH POPU-
LATION OF 230,000, CONNECT-
ING IT TO THE INNER CITY
METRO.
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wwaass ooppeenneedd,, hhoommiicciiddee rraatteess ddrrooppppeedd aa
ddrraammaattiicc8844%%
84% drop between
2002-2008
Data: Colombia Reports: “Medellin crime and violence |
Fact sheet,” October 20, 2016. Medical Examiner’s Office.

5. RISEOF THE GONDOLAS
POLIFERATIONOF
SOCIAL
FACILITIES
2007, CONSTRUCTION OF
ESPANA LIBRARY AND PARK
IN SANTO DOMINGO
2008 AND 2010, TWO MORE
GONDOLA LINES WERE
OPEND- ED, LINEA J AND LINEA
L.

6. RISEOF THE GONDOLAS
INTEGRATION
IN 2015, A NEW LIGHT RAILWAS
OPENED, THE AYACUCHO TRAM
CONNECTING TO WESTERN
PARTS OF THE CITY, FULLY
INTE- GRATED WITH
GONDOLAS K, J, AND L, AND
THE PREVIOUS MET- RO BUS
RAIL SYSTEMS A AND B.

7. MEDELLIN: ANEXAMPLE TO
FOLLOWA STORY OFSUCCESS
AWARDED VERONICA RUDGE GREEN PRIZE IN URBAN DESIGN
IN 2013
PLACED IN ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION’S 100 RESILIENT
CITIES AWARDED “SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORTATION AWARD”
BY THE IN-
STITUTE FOR TRANSPORTATION AND DEVELOPMENT POLICY
IN 2012
NAMED “INNOVATIVE CITY OF THE YEAR”
BY WALLSTREET JOURNAL, CITI GLOBAL COMPETITION, AND
THE URBAN LANDSCAPE INSTITUE IN 2014.

8. MEDELLIN: ANEXAMPLE TO
FOLLOWMODEL OF SUSTAINABLE
TRANSPORTATION
LOW CARBON EMISSIONS: The city estimates that the system saves 175,000 tons of CO2
every year(equivalent to planting 380,000 trees)
“URBANO INTERGRAL PROJECT”: a key contributor to the Metro, is an organization dedi-
cated to making contextual decisions to the locations where the gondolas operate, which has
resulted in 320,000 sq. meters of green spaces throughout the city, and connecting pedestrian
traffic to public spaces.
SMART TRANSPORTATION: Digital applications such as ride-sharing, and bicycle sharing
have developed around the mass transit, called “EnCicla” and “Comparte tu Carro” , that has
further reduced the impact of auto based transportation.
FEASIBLE: being extremely cheap to construct(two to three times less expensive than
trams), they can be quickly implemented(span of one to three years), and impact a very low area
of development. Also,they saves the users 50,000 pesos a month($26 U.S. dollars).
PROMOTION OF SOCIAL INCLUSION: the new mass transit system integrates marginalized
areas with high economic areas and has improved the quality of life in barrios significantly, giv- ing
access to educational services, new public spaces, and library parks.

9. GLOBAL
PROLIFERATIONMI TELEFERICO IN LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
(2014)Replaces scores of diesel powered mini buses for clean electric
power . Most developed cable car system in world
First city to use cable cars as “back-bone” of city
transportation Total government investment equals 795
million US dollars
21 gondolas, 38 stations, 36 miles of wire
YENIMAHALLE TELEFERIK IN ANKARA, TURKEY
(2014)
Largest cable car system on the Eurasian continen at 3.2
km Successfully integrates with the dense
urban fabic
Stations are bulit over intersections, roads, and traffic
islands

10. POSSIBLE RISK AND
DISADVANTAGESTHE TECHNOLOGY IS RELATIVELY NEW AND HAS LARGELY
BEEN
USED IN RECREATIONAL APPLICATIONS TO DATE.
THE HOURS OF SERVICE REQUIRED DAILY IN AN URBAN
TRANSIT SETTING ARE MUCH LONGER THAN TYPICAL IN
RECREATIONALUSE.
TO MINIMIZE THE PROPERTY AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
OF THE GONDOLA, INNOVATIVE RESCUE SYSTEMS WOULD BE
RE- QUIRED
PASSENGER SAFETY AND SECURITY IS A POTENTIAL ISSUE
AS THE CABINS WOULD BE UNSTAFFED, THOUGH THE
TERMINALS MUST BE STAFFED ON A FULL-TIME BASIS. THE
CABINS WOULD BE FITTED WITH INTERCOMS, CLOSED CIRCUIT
TELEVISION (CCTV), AND LIGHTING TO MITIGATE THIS ISSUE.

11. CONCLUSION
GONDOLAS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO LIFT INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS OUT OF PROVERTY BY CONNECTING THEMTO HIGHER ECONOMIC
ZONES
GONDOLAS ARE AN ECONOMICALLY FEASIBLE SOLUTION TO URBAN TRANSPORTATION, BUT MAY ONLY BE SENSIBLE IN MOUNTAINOUS
TERRAIN BECAUSE GONDOLAS CAN RUN ON ELECTRICAL ENGINES, THEY HAVE A LOW CARBON FOOTPRINT, AND PRESENT A CLEANER
SOLUTION TO GAS
POWERED TRANSPORTATION, THOUGH DEPENDING ON THE SOURCE OF ELECTRICITY, GHG EMISSIONS COULD JUST BE DISPLACED BACKTO
POWER SOURCE, SUCH AS COAL FIRED POWER PLANTS.
GONDOLAS CAN BE DEVELOPED IN ANY URBAN ENVIRONMENT DUE TO THE LOW AMOUT OF AREA NEEDED TO BE DEVELOPED.

12. REFERENCE
SBarber, M.(Sept 2017). 11 Urban Gondolas Changing the Way People Move. Curbed. Retrieved from: https://www.curbed.com/2017/9/21/16340394/urban-gondolas-cable-cars-cities
Briney, A.(Feb 2017). Latin American City Structure Model. Thought Co. Retrieved from:https://www.thoughtco.com/latin-american-city-structure-1435755
Brodzinsky, S. (Apr 2014). From Murder Capital to Model City: Is Medellin’s Miracle Show or Substance? The Guardian. Retrieved from:
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/apr/17/medel- lin-murder-capital-to-model-city-miracle-un-world-urban-forum
Dale, S.(Aug 2011). Medellin to Build Two Gondolas/Integrated into a Light-rail Line!. The Gondola Project. Retrieved from: http://gondolaproject.com/2011/08/30/medellin-to-build-two-
urban- gondolas-integrated-into-a-light-rail-line/
Grant, B. (Aug 2014). Medellin’s Journey to Create a Green Future from a Bloody Past. Medium. Retrieved from: https://medium.com/@bekahgrant/medellins-journey-to-create-a-green-future-
from- a-bloody-past-a76badd76499
Landsman, P.(Sep 2017). Record Fifth Urban Gondola Opens in La Paz. LiftBlog. Retrieved from: https://liftblog.com/2017/09/29/record-fifth-urban-gondola-opens-in-la-paz/
Madrid, J.(Mar 2012). Medellin’s Amazing Metro System:Colombia Uses Public Transport to Drive Societal Change. Think Progress. Retrieved from: https://thinkprogress.org/medellins-
amaz- ing-metro-system-colombia-uses-public-transport-to-drive-societal-change-1a4186f6c3c6/
Moreno, C. (Sep 2013). Medellin, Colombia Named “Innovative City of the Year” in WSJ and Citi Global Competition. Huffington Post. Retrieved from:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/02/ medellin-named-innovative-city-of-the-year_n_2794425.html
N/A.(April 2015).Finding Inspiration in Medellin’s Library Parks. Next City. Retrieved from: https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/finding-inspiration-in-medellins-library-
parks N/A. A Gondola Network is Reducing Violent Crime in Medellin. Atlantic Media Strategies. Retrievedfrom:
https://qz.com/907836/a-gondola-network-is-reducing-violent-crime-in-medellin-2/
N/A.(Oct 2015). Ayacucho Tram Line Officially Inaugurated. Railway Pro. Retrieved from: http://www.railwaypro.com/wp/ayacucho-tram-line-oficially-
inaugurated/ N/A.(Apr 2012) Medellin, a Leader in Sustainable Transport. ITDP. Retrieved from: https://www.itdp.org/medellin-a-leader-in-sustainable-
transport/
Parkinson, C.(Nov 2013). Medellin’s Strategy for Driving Down Crime: Adding More Gondolas. Next City. Retrieved from: https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/medellin-expands-the-transit-system-
that- helped-tame-its-rampant-crime
Shahriari, S. (Apr 2014). Largest Urban Cable Car Soars Over ‘Desperate’ Commuters of La Paz. The Guardian. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/apr/09/largest-urban-
cable- car-la-paz-bolivia