Development of the city in the conditions of informal housing development domination. Example of Villavicencio in Colombia Cover Image

Rozwój miasta w warunkach dominacji nieformalnej zabudowy mieszkaniowej. Przykład Villavicencio w Kolumbii
Development of the city in the conditions of informal housing development domination. Example of Villavicencio in Colombia

Author(s): Mirosława Czerny
Subject(s): Energy and Environmental Studies, Rural and urban sociology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: informal sector in the city; environmental degradation; Villavicencio; urbanization in tropical regions; forced migration;

Summary/Abstract: The development of Colombian cities is conditioned both by the growing number of the country’s population and the internal political situation, which is conducive to mass forced migrations of the rural population to the cities. Initially, the goal of these migrations was only urban centers located in the Andes, mainly Bogota and Medellin. Since the beginning of the 21st century, more and more people have settled in cities located in lowland regions – in the Caribbean Plain and in the eastern plains, i.e., in the Llanos Orientales. Sensitive ecosystems characterizing tropical areas are degraded as a result of invasive informal development – natural vegetation is destroyed, surface water pollution increases, the frequency of landslides and mudslides increases, and fauna is impoverished. The lack of an effective urban planning system and the high demand for new areas for informal development, as well as closed housing estates for the middle and upper classes, cause profound changes in the city’s ecosystem and its surroundings and expose buildings erected on land unsuited for this type of use to destruction.

  • Issue Year: 68/2023
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 189-202
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: Polish