Urban Expansion in Bogota

Paul Romer, the Director of the NYU Stern Urbanization Project, and Nicolás Galarza, a Research Scholar at NYU Stern Urbanization Project, are quoted in El Espectador's coverage of a land dispute in Bogotá.

With nearly 8 million inhabitants, some feel that Bogotá is reaching its limits as a megacity. The dispute between mayor Enrique Penalosa and environmentalists over the use of a major land preserve, Thomas van der Hammen, is sparking conversations about the country's population policy.

Según Paul Romer, director del Urbanization Project, una plataforma liderada por la Universidad de Nueva York (NYU) que le sigue la pista al crecimiento urbano mundial, las ciudades del planeta agregarán más gente en el siglo XXI que durante toda la historia de la humanidad. “Si una ciudad como Bogotá planea expandirse podría acomodar a millones de nuevos residentes. Crecer cada vez más la haría competir con otras grandes ciudades como París (12 millones de habitantes) o Londres (14 millones)”.

According to Paul Romer, the Director of the Urbanization Project, a platform led by New York University (NYU) that tracks global urban growth, the cities of the world will add more people in the 21st century than they have throughout the history of mankind. "If a city like Bogotá plans to expand, it could accommodate millions of new residents. Growing, it would increasingly compete with other major cities like Paris (population 12 million) or London (14 million)."

Nicolás Galarza Sánchez, investigador colombiano de Urbanization Project, opina que “la discusión entre verde y cemento invisibiliza a la gente.Es importante hallar un equilibrio entre los ambientalistas y los constructores. Si no hay acuerdo son los más pobres los que terminan marginados, viviendo lejos y en hábitats con pésimas condiciones”.

Nicolás Galarza Sánchez, a Colombian researcher at the Urbanization Project, believes that "the discussion between green and cement renders the people invisible. It is important to find a balance between environmentalists and builders. In the abscence of an agreement, the poor are the ones who end up marginalized, living far away and in environments with poor conditions."

Read El Espectador's full post here

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