The Mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, welcomed representatives from 12 countries and 35 Ibero-American cities participating in the XXIV Congress of the Ibero-American Center for Urban Strategic Development (CIDEU, as per the acronym in Spanish).
"Welcome to Bogotá! This is your home, we are happy to have you here, to hold our global CIDEU meeting in Bogotá," said Mayor López.
The city was chosen to host the congress because of its innovative Care System, in addition to the Land Use Plan (POT, as per the acronym in Spanish) 'Bogotá Reverdece 2022 - 2035', which is committed to a vision of a more inclusive city in urban and rural environments, and promotes sustainable economic, social, and environmental development and improves Bogotá residents’ quality of life.
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Here, a tweet from Mayor Claudia López:
Les presento a Bogotá de un vistazo! Desde las torres Atrio, le explicamos a la delegación del @CIDEU cómo planeamos la ciudad alrededor del cuidado de las personas con oportunidades para que ellos protejan la democracia, y tengamos un gobierno democrático que cuide el planeta. pic.twitter.com/O6TZxO2COj
— Claudia López Hernández (@ClaudiaLopez) July 11, 2022
"We are proud hosts, we are ready to learn from you and share our experiences of urban innovation on caring for people, democracy, and the planet," said the Mayor.
The Ibero-American Congress will present the main projects that are making Bogotá a role model for local governments, including the Care System, the implementation of multimodal and sustainable transportation systems, and various urban renewal initiatives.
This Monday morning, the meeting of the CIDEU Governing Council was held at the Tequendama Hotel, with the participation of 23 representatives of the management team of the network of cities.
(Click here if you are interested in knowing more about the XXIV CIDEU Congress taking place in Bogotá)
The Secretary General of CIDEU, Laura Perez, thanked the Governing Council for their presence and highlighted the actions that have been taken in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. "We have had the opportunity to strengthen ties and strengthen partnerships with new members, in this effort to grow the network for the revitalization of cities," she said.
During this meeting, Luz Amparo Medina, Director of International Relations of the Mayor's Office of Bogotá, explained that it is important to collectively propose a way to plan cities and take on new challenges with a vision of care and empathy.
"We must collectively consider a new way of planning our cities and of using the infrastructures and services we have to improve the care of our citizens, particularly women and young people," said Medina.
In turn, the mayor of the city of Mendoza (Argentina), Ulpiano Suarez, thanked Mayor Claudia López for her hospitality and for welcoming representatives from different countries of the world.
"I want to thank our hostess, Mayor Claudia López and this beautiful city for welcoming us," while adding: "If we can draw one conclusion, it is that neither the pandemic nor the crisis that has hit the planet has slowed down the work that CIDEU has been doing".
In the afternoon, the Mayor of Bogotá led a tour of the Bronx Creative District and the Basilica of the Voto Nacional in order to show the strategic bets that make Bogotá a caring city and a center of economic, social, and cultural development.
"We are in the Bronx Creative District, this is an urban renewal, social renewal, and heritage protection project. It is a very ambitious project that has been more than ten (10) years in the making and requires vision, planning, and understanding the community," explained the Mayor during the tour.
She added: "Here we boost economic and social development, strengthen the creative industries, and revitalize the city center with art and culture."
They also visited the art exhibition entitled "La Esquina Redonda: memory, creation, and care", a sample of the recovery of local history through art and creation based on four axes: Creation and memory, research and action, care and harm reduction, and community service networks.
They also toured the iconic Voto Nacional Church with Monsignor Dario Echeverry. "This basilica, which brings together values that refer to historical moments, has been under restoration for more than ten years, and is key to the Bronx Creative District recovery project," said Mayor López.
At the end of the afternoon, at the Atrium Tower, the Mayor made a presentation on "Bogotá, a city planned around care", in which she explained how the transformation process has been based on the development and implementation of care-based policies.
"Making cities inclusive means that if a child or an elderly person can be happy and walk around the city, anyone can walk around the city," she said.
Mayor López also emphasized that, "If we manage to take care of people, those people will be able to take care of democracy, they will be able to make significant changes. If we do not take care of democracy, there will be no governments that will fulfill the same global agreements that are intended to take care of the planet".
She also insisted that it is impossible to build an egalitarian and inclusive society if the overburden experienced by women in care is not relieved by ensuring close by care and services are available.
