From Old Colonial Estates to New Modern Suburbs: The Emergence of the First Middle-Class Neighborhoods in Bogotá,Colombia (1925-1945)

Abstract

In the 1920s and 1930s, three factors contributed to Bogotá’s urban and architectural development: first, the deepening of urban contradictions that gave rise to considerable public concern around health, security, morality, and poverty in the city; second, the organization of meetings on public improvements that inspired the first urban planning processes, such as Bogotá Future; and third, the favorable economic conditions that enabled the development of public works and private projects, such as new residential neighborhoods for middle classes outside of town. We show how the first residential neighborhoods for modern middle classes in the Arzobispo River basin, in the northern part of Bogotá, emerged.