De la acera a la calzada: la evolución del diseño y la política de infraestructura ciclista en ciudades colombianas

Abstract

Colombian cities’ cycling infrastructure design practices have changed considerably in the past decade. Rather than placing cycling infrastructures at sidewalk level, a previously common configuration that led to conflicts with pedestrian circulation, most new infrastructure built in cities such as Bogotá, Bucaramanga, and Cali, has been developed on the roadway through the redistribution of road space. In this article, we position this change of the model of infrastructural intervention as an opportunity to analyse the policies and characteristics of cycling infrastructure development in the Colombian urban context. In comparing the implementation of cycling infrastructure in the roadway in Bogotá, Bucaramanga, and Cali, this article explores the relation between the physical configuration of infrastructure and the socio-political and institutional context within which it is developed. Based on this analysis, the article sets out the practical, normative and political tensions which condition the redistribution of road space for bicycles in Colombian cities.