南美洲開箱文 (8) 一個城市改頭換面的故事，哥倫比亞麥德林第13區
First time in South America (8) How a city changed (English on the bottom; the linked article has only Mandarin)
不少城市裡都存在著這樣的地方：一大片櫛次鱗比的平房依山而建，與整齊氣派的高樓大廈格格不入，裡面住著不像典型城市中產階級的人們，哥倫比亞的第13區就是其中之一。這裡一直到20年前仍然處於無政府狀態，既無道路又不通水電，還緊緊地被販毒集團控制著，使麥德林「榮獲」全世界最危險城市的頭銜。
我們不難想像，如果同樣的狀況發生在某A國，這些社區很快就會被以「清理低端人口」的名義剷除；或者如果在號稱最有人權的B國，他們會找來建商蓋起雅痞風十足的住宅大樓，間接使原居民因房價飆高而被迫離開。然而，哥倫比亞卻在幾乎沒有拆掉一棟房子、也沒有強迫任何人搬離的情況下翻轉了這個地方。他們是怎麼做到的？
https://ltsoj.com/2019/11/06/madellin-conuma13
Comuna 13 in Medellin has an interesting and inspiring story. A typical slum sprawling along hillslopes, as recent as 20 years ago, it was still completely outside the government's control. Ruled by a notorious drug lord, it was full of issues like drugs, gangs, poverty, fire, lack of sanity and transportation. Within the last 20 years, however, it was transformed into a safe and very tourist-attracting neighborhood, without any clean-up or gentrification initiative. How did that happen?
A series unfortunate events took place in 2002: the government initiated 10 military operations, including the most known one "Orion". The army and air force fired guns at civilians, and thus stirred up outcries of the locals. The situation began to change since then.
- A House of Justice was built next to the neighborhood, where the locals can go and settle conflicts with neighbors, without calling gangs or drug dealers to intervene.
- An innovative approach of transit -- an escalator system was built in this low-income community to let the locals leave/return easily. It not only makes the community more accessible, but also secure a clear passage for emergency use.
- Many other facilities were also built, where free resources and classes are offered. The graffitis, originally as a protest against the controversial military operations, became the most important tourist attraction here. And more importantly, all these were done with both the government's and the locals' involvement. Decisions were made collaboratively.
The story made Medellin the most memorable part of my Colombian trip. Unlike most other countries including the US, who often take the clean-up or gentrification approach, Colombia choose the hard path to solve those already-hard problems. The process is challenging, and many issues are yet to be solved, but it made me also convinced that this is probably how a true transformation of a community should be done.
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