Sustainability assessment of an urban neighborhood revitalization project in Bogotá by transposition of European indicator systems to the Colombian context

With 80% of its population living in cities, Latin America is one of the most urbanized regions in the planet. Its urban areas are characterized by rapid transformations that entail urban sprawl and the subsequent environmental impacts, social segregation and poverty. Urban revitalization of deteriorated areas at the city-center appears as an alternative that seeks to combat these problems and create more sustainable cities. It is therefore necessary to develop methodologies that allow a sustainability assessment of these potential solutions in Latin America. This work opens the research towards the creation of an indicators system to assess the sustainability of urban renewal projects at the neighborhood scale, in the Colombian context. An analysis of different sustainability assessment methodologies, created and commonly known in the developed world, was carried out, in order to select the tool that allows for a better transposition to a developing context. Complementary indicators where selected and integrated into the assessment methodology, taking into account the global objectives of Latin America and the local objectives of Bogotá according to the Exceptional Modification of its Land Management Plan. The result is a sustainability assessment of the urban revitalization project called Progresa Fenicia, located at the center of Bogotá, taking into account not only physical and environmental variables related with density, mix land uses and mobility, but also socio-cultural, politic and economic issues associated with social mix and a new governance model which prioritizes the participation of local community and its empowerment. It was demonstrated that it is possible to seek sustainable neighborhoods, and consequently sustainable cities in Latin America, by simultaneously learning from European methodologies and appreciating local specificities.