Metrocable

Metrocable

Metrocable refers to a 2 km gondola lift in Medellín, Colombia that was developed in 2004 as a means of connecting the city's underdeveloped suburbs to the wider metro system. It is part of recent cable-car developments in Latin American cities aimed at providing complementary mobility systems for displaced passengers living in slums.From: Design strategies to respond to the challenges of shrinking city [2019], Advances in Human Aspects of Road and Rail Transportation [2012]

Impact of an Integrated Transport System: An Ethnographic Case Study of the Experiences of Metrocable Users in Medellín, Colombia

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Published in Gavriel Salvendy, Advances in Human Aspects of Road and Rail Transportation, 2012

Adriana Roa-Atkinson, Peter Atkinson, Jane Osmond, Andrée Woodcock

The interviews with some of the most disadvantaged communities in Medellín revealed the positive impacts of the Metrocable development and its integration with other municipal interventions such as PUI. This positive impact was enhanced through the extensive pre-launch campaigns aimed at the local population, through what is now known as ‘Metroculture’. These campaigns were underpinned with an educational ethos about treating the system with respect, an ethos that is passed onto the young people of Medellín.

Design strategies to respond to the challenges of shrinking city

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Published in Journal of Urban Design, 2019

Saehoon Kim

Recent cable-car developments in Latin American cities, such as 4.9 km lines in Ecatepec, Mexico City and a 2 km gondola lift called Metrocable in Medellín, are transformative attempts to provide complementary mobility systems for displaced passengers living in the slums. The projects reflect the notion of ‘social urbanism’, a term coined by Alejandro Echeverri, the former director of urban projects under Mayor Sergio Fejardo in Medellín. According to Echeverri, social urbanism focuses on putting the largest public investment in the most vulnerable area of the city (Echeverri 2009). This can lead to the formation of a visible safety net integrated with play, work and entertainment hubs at the heart of chaotic, densely populated cityscapes.

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Impact of an Integrated Transport System: An Ethnographic Case Study of the Experiences of Metrocable Users in Medellín, Colombia

Design strategies to respond to the challenges of shrinking city