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Project country: Colombia

Sector: Mobility

Expert Partners: WSP E&IS UK, Steer Davies & Gleave UK

This skill-share provided UK experience and learnings on the development of low-traffic neighbourhoods and walking and cycling infrastructure more generally.

The Secretariat of Mobility of Bogotá (SDM) leads the design and implementation of policies related to the mobility system in Bogotá. The experts from WSP E&IS UK and Steer Davies & Gleave Ltd worked with SDM on the development of Barrios Vitales: intervention strategies seeking the setup of low traffic neighbourhoods through the implementation of progressive and tactical actions on mobility, public space and urban revitalisation.

The experts led a series of workshops relating to the design and implementation of low-traffic neighbourhood projects in the UK, with a strong focus on London and their experience of working with Transport for London and the London boroughs on low-traffic neighbourhoods and active travel projects. The workshops were followed by peer reviews of the technical design for each low-traffic neighbourhood, identifying the specific technical strategies to solve the redistribution of vehicular flows, protecting the local streets in residential areas.

Gender, Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) was a key consideration throughout the skill-share, especially given the projects were making changes to streetscapes and needed to take into account how women could be better considered in public space from a personal safety perspective and Bogota’s poorest people, such as rough sleepers and informal traders.

 

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• The skill-share served to share best practices on sustainable urban development at the local scale, learning from international best practice, including from London’s “mini-Hollands” initiative.
• UK PACT support served to raise the profile of “barrios vitales” as a strategy for sustainable urban development in Bogota, working with different neighbourhoods, as well as to promote better living conditions for all, in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change.
• Tactic urbanism interventions considered UK PACT support advice, as well as policy guidelines for scaling up “barrios vitales” as a long term strategy.
• The skill-share has great potential to promote local action and ambition in Bogota’s neighbourhoods, incentivising behavioural change that contributes to the Paris Agreement, including net zero challenges.