7 Urbanism and City Design Lessons from Medellín

I visited Medellín, Colombia in both 2023 and 2024.

Once notorious as the epicenter of the drug cartel era under Pablo Escobar in the late 20th century, Medellín’s narrative was dominated by violence and chaos. It was often called “the murder capital of the world.”

Since then, Medellín has redefined its image.

Today it’s one of the biggest global hotspots for digital nomads. In fact, my first visit here in 2023 was to visit my friend Peter Tzemis, who moved there as a nomad the year before. This year I came back with my girlfriend for a full month.

(Based on my experience I wrote an article on the ultimate guide to living as a digital nomad in Medellín.)

Right from my first visit, I found Medellín a fascinating place to study.

The city has been marketed, rightfully so in many respects, as one of the greatest turnaround in the history of city planning. Despite this great turnaround, this article will not be a piece of propaganda for the city of Medellín. It still has lots of flaws.

On the one hand, Medellín is an urbanist superstory. But on the other, it’s a swarm of crypto bros and sexual tourism, to the point where the US Embassy in Colombia has issued an official warning not to use dating apps, less you want to get mugged by your Tinder date. Duality exists.

Rather, I aim to share what I’ve observed. From these observations, there’s a lot to learn about designing cities to provide a better life for everyone.

In this article, I cover some lessons on city planning, public transit, and urbanism that Medellín taught me or helped reinforce.

I hope it can inspire you to advocate for positive change in your community.

Here are 7 lessons on city planning Lessons Inspired by Medellín

1) The Power of Plants

One of the first things many visitors to Medellín point out is how filled with plants it is.

They are everywhere and it’s wonderful. It gives many parts of the city a feeling of what it really is: the valley of the mountains that just happens to be a major city.

This has been an incredible effort on the city’s part, as they’ve worked to add millions of plants to Medellín.

In some parts of the city, it’s local law to plant certain numbers of plants in certain spaces. I love this. This is the kind of regulation I hope all of us can get behind.

The addition of millions of plants has had numerous powerful effects.

First, it improves the air quality. This is obvious to those who walk through some parts of Medellín. It feels like you have all the city amenities, with the fresh air and connection to nature.

Second, the plants invite wildlife back into the city.

Third, and most impressively, it has cooled down the entire city. According to local government data, it has cooled the city by 2 degrees Celsius.

As climate change worsens, the addition of plants to provide a cooling effect is an eco-friendly and cost-effective way to cool down cities. I would like to add this to my article on big ideas to fight climate change.

From Medellín, I believe we should do this in every major city. New York should do this immediately. Imagine if the term “concrete jungle” could take on an evolved meaning?

For more on this, I highly recommend this BBC article “How Medellín is beating the heat with green corridors.”

2) “Effective Urbanism For The Rich, Car Dependency For Everyone Else”

One of my favorite urbanist creators, City Nerd, has used this line several times in the context of US cities.

This holds up well for Medellín.

In El Poblado, and to a lesser extent in other wealthy areas, the number of plants, wide sidewalks sometimes closed for cars, clean, wide sidewalks, and mixed-use buildings are obvious and abundant.

The wealthy digital nomad can (and does) live in Medellín and may see it as an urbanist paradise. That’s because, in these wealthier areas, it mostly is.

Yet, once you step outside these areas, the quality of urban fabric deteriorates rapidly.

Here’s a photo I took just a 5-minute walk from where I stayed. If it gets this bad so close to very nice areas, imagine what a lot of Medellín looks like.

Sidewalks became dangerously narrow (if they existed at all.) The pollution from cars makes walking deeply uncomfortable. Places that would swarm with plants in El Poblado feature mostly concrete elsewhere.

Where there are bike lanes and wide sidewalks in Envigado, there’s little when you head even a few blocks outside of these wealthier areas.

In their application of creating more walkable streets and cleaner air, it seems that Medellín has prioritized its wealthy residents and touristy areas.

Of course, this is not unique to Medellín.

However, the next point gave me hope that Medellín’s urban turnaround really does serve everyone.

3) The Metrocable: Build Transit for Everyone, Not Just The Rich

I have three big lessons from the MetroCable. The first I believe is the most important. In 2004, Medellín opened an innovative form of transit that’s like a ski gondola.

When building the MetroCable, the city centered on serving those high up on the edges of Medellín. These areas are not well-served by buses due to the elevation and narrow, jagged streets.

As this Axios article put it, the system “slashed a two-hour, often physically grueling trip between the mountain barrios and downtown Medellín to just 30 minutes.”

They didn’t build this system for the wealthy or for tourists. (Although, in a brilliant move, they extended it to tourists as I’ll mention.) They built it for the benefit of those most often forgotten.

This shows the complexity of a city.

They may cater to everyone in some respects but still have a lot of work to do in others. The Metrocable caters to the locals first and foremost. I’ve only ever heard of an expat taking it when going up to Parque Arví.

There are stories of those who can now attend university in Medellin’s center thanks to the MetroCable. It has created social and economic opportunity to those who previously didn’t have it.

For more on this, I recommend this Axios article, “Medellín and the power of public transportation.”

More broadly, the MetroCable affirms to me that effective transit needs buy-in from residents to be a success. Public transit is ultimately to serve the public, and it should be based on their needs and what will improve their lives, NOT based on what will bring the most money in.

If you think transit systems need to “turn a profit” then I encourage you to look at our roads and highways in the United States.

If roads needed to make a profit, then rural areas would never have roads.

We all agree it’s a good investment of public funds to connect rural places with roads, yet for some reason we don’t apply this same logic to other forms of transportation.

4) The Metrocable: Make it a Tourist Destination and Let Tourists Fund It

With that said, if there are ways to hike prices for tourists so it’s easier to pay for, go for it. That’s what Medellín has done.

You see, after the last stop on the MetroCable in Santo Domingo, you can transfer to another one that goes to the tourist destination, Parque Arví.

While the cost to get to Santo Domingo is the same cost as a metro ticket (about 70 cents USD), the cost to get on the transfer from Santo Domingo up to Parque Arví is substantially more. I think it cost us around $6 per person. This particular line, the one that goes from Santo Domingo to Parque Arví I’m sure does turn a profit, or at least helps increase profits at Parque Arví. In turn, this helps pay for the entire system.

Plus, the ride up to Arví itself is an experience, as it takes you beyond Medellín’s borders and up to the countryside. We even saw cows! I’m not one for tourist traps, but I really enjoyed Arví.

How could this be applied elsewhere?

Seeing this in action led me to think about how this dual-fare system could be applied.

What if, for example, in San Francisco, non-residents paid more to ride their scenic Cable Cars?

What if the funds from this could make it a more premium, scenic experience? Meanwhile, locals enjoy it at a subsidized rate or for free. Just an idea.

What if the Staten Island Ferry wasn’t free for non-residents?

What if the service and experience were improved and marketed as one of the best views of the Statue of Liberty? (It is.)

How could Staten Island, the forgotten borough that’s disconnected from the subway system, take advantage of this? Again, it’s just an idea. But given NYC’s lack of funds for much-needed subway improvements, I love this thought exercise.

5) The Metrocable: Suit The Transit To The Place

Another point I love about this Metrocable is it demonstrates how we need flexibility when choosing what type of transit to build.

In Medellín, where the elevation varies a lot and there are tons of narrow, steep streets, an underground subway doesn’t make sense.

The solution is the path of least resistance, and this gondola-style transit going up the mountain provides that.

As we expand transit in the US, the answer isn’t subway vs light rail vs bus. The answer should vary depending on the place and the needs of the people. Where subways and rail exist, we should expand it. However, in many cities, I think we can start by improving the bus service and make it viably compete against calling taxis and Uber.

Where are Colorado’s MetroCable-like transit systems?

6) The Dark Side of Catering to Digital Nomads

On the surface, attracting virtual workers seems like a great way to flood the Medellín economy with cold, hard US Dollars. And it is. A large chunk of Medellín’s economy relies on tourism.

However, it has also led to a very real gentrification effect. I covered the gentrification effects in my article on digital nomads in Medellín. To sum it up, when those with more money come, they are willing to pay more for housing, food, and more.

This causes prices to go up, and many locals can no longer afford it. They get displaced, and are forced to move out of the city center (away from the majority of the good urbanism) to a place they can afford.

It also erodes the culture that made the place great. Local food spots get replaced with chains. Cultural centers get replaced with upscale shopping.

Places that want to attract digital workers should learn from Medellín and tread with caution. Philosophically, tourism should bring money and opportunity to the locals, NOT to displace them.

In practice, the solutions to gentrification are varied and complex.

If you’re interested, I recommend the book How to Kill a City which covers gentrification in US Cities from Brooklyn to the Bay Area.

This can include housing laws that protect locals from rent hikes (rent control) or laws that require a certain number of housing units to be set aside for locals.

It could also include campaigns to promote responsible tourism and help educate tourists on how they can travel responsibly.

For Medellín, this is not a strength, as sexual tourism runs wildly, often with devastating and violent consequences.

7) Satellite City Urban Fabric: Exploring Rionegro

While in Medellín, we made a new friend who lived outside, in a satellite city called Rionegro. A satellite city is a city that’s within a greater metropolitan area. In this case, Rionegro is a part of the greater Medellín area.

With a population of around 130k, Rionegro contains an effective urban fabric that I frankly preferred over most of Medellín.

Our friend lives in Rionegro and doesn’t own a car. She commutes by bus to Medellín for school, and can either take buses or walk all around Rionegro itself.

I love seeing places like this because it shows us that effective urban fabric with clean streets, walkable spaces, and car-free life, is not the exclusive terrain of big cities.

Yet in the US, the “cities” outside of big cities are ubiquitous with car-dependent, suburban life.

We can build walkable places regardless of population. It reminded me of a town outside of Barcelona I know well, Premia de Mar, where nearly everywhere in the town is within walking distance of the commuter train that goes right to Barcelona. Yes, people may own cars, but fewer do, and those who do use them less.

What Does Urban Fabric Look Like In Small Towns?

This also gets me thinking that if it’s possible in satellite cities, why can’t it be possible in small towns? I think about the town of Rupit in northern Catalonia, Spain. The town is exactly what you think of when you imagine the cute medieval European town.

You can take a train from Barcelona to Vic, then a bus from Vic to this tiny town. But once you’re in the town, it’s all walking.

In this article, I talked about how this type of housing could help solve the Vermont housing crisis.

We Design Better Cities By Studying Cities

My urbanism and city planning philosophies, first and foremost, have formed based on what I’ve seen with my own two eyes.

I’ve seen how great transit, walkable streets, and clean areas transform my day-to-day life, and how the opposite has worsened inequality, stifled opportunity, and on several occasions ruined my whole day.

By designing better cities, we design better lives, a better functioning society, and a cleaner earth. This is why I’m a slut for public transit. Medellín provides the latest example of many urbanism lessons to come.

Join my email list. Absorb cool ideas.

In one newsletter a month, I share a big idea. Sometimes it’s about traveling and urbanism. Others are about language learning. I have even decided to write a whole newsletter about Spongebob memes before. If this type of eclectic content appeals to you, you can subscribe here.