What is the urban and architectural strategy for an emerging Cartagena?

Cartagena is characterized by a historic city center protected as a UNESCO world heritage site and new high-rise condominium developments along the coast as well as areas of informal settlements that are vulnerable to inequality and poverty. The port city in an emerging Carribean region is economically strong and globally connected and due to its geography offers tourism a scenic attraction. This emergent urbanism, produced at the intersection of top-down planning and bottom-up improvisation, cannot be meaningfully addressed by traditional planning models and demands critical investigations into the future vision of Cartagena.

Students will travel to Cartagena as an extension of the Urban-Think Tank Design Studio to investigate the architecture, urbanism, culture, and social exchange in Cartagena with a specific focus on public spaces and park systems. City and architectural tours, museum visits, lectures and talks from local experts will constitute the majority of the trip. With representatives from municipal and local partners, we will take part in a series of on-site mapping workshops to collect urban ideas and input from residents, interdisciplinary experts, community groups, NGOs, and the private sector.