“De facto” urbanism in Popayán?

By Ana Cecilia Campo López

The media informs us of new urban renewal promises for Barrio Bolívar, and the mayor, Juan Carlos Muñoz Bravo, announces a “macro project” to move the market to the Plazoleta Carlos Albán, just a few meters from the front of the current center of wholesale and retail supplies in the capital of Cauca, a gallery that has been the banner of renewal by countless administrations, for more than five decades, without positive results for the city.

We citizens warn that the repeated unsuccessful intentions for such noble purposes are the result of the political underestimation of the powerful economic and social variables that govern in that sector, which the representatives of the State do not face under comprehensive long-term urban protection and planning guidance. of common good.

Let me explain. There are academic records which have been drawing attention since 1978, just sixteen years after the transfer of the old “market square” to that sector, 1960, of the inconvenience of having a united wholesale trade with retail trade in the center of Popayán, with the negative effects on the city, which today does not have a wholesale supply center in an area suitable for its operation.

Among the analyzes are the following, among others: Study of the Food Supply and Market in the City of Popayán and the Economic Offer (1978. Consultancy and Services Colombia Ltda. Cali). Popayán Wholesale Food Market Study. Diagnostic Report, Part I and Part II (1985. Corporación de Abastecimiento del Valle del Cauca SA CAVASA). Study of the Road and Transport Plan of the Central Area of Popayán (1997 Program 17. Road Planning in Areas Around Galleries). Bolívar Neighborhood Gallery Study. Problem Identification (1998. Municipality of Popayán-ROCAUCA).

More current reflections, and which continue to indicate the “Gordian knot” of the issue, are the Private Consultation, the Partial Plan of the Neighborhood of Bolívar -2010 (PPBB), which was canceled only two months ago by the administration and the Municipal Council ; There is also a Special Plan for the Management and Protection of the Historic Sector of Popayán, 2009, (PEMP-Popayán), sponsored by Mincultura; the Planning and Management Plan for the Río Molino-Pubus Hydrographic Basin, 2006, (POMCH) by the CRC and the Territorial Planning Plan, 2002, (POT-Popayán).

Much more recent are the proposals at the level of the idea and pre-feasibility, from the Ministry of Vive el Cambio, with possible financial approval from PROPAIS, 2016/2019, and the proposal from the Ministry of Creo in Popayán, with possible approval from the Administrative. Department of Social Prosperity, 2020-2023; These initiatives sought to focus investments for traditional foods and the quality peasant market, strengthening the city’s existing tourism and formal employment; proposed to locate the investment in Plazoleta Albán, reclaim the banks of the Molino River and take environmental care of the area to leave it. It was not known that the Plazoleta was an asset for public use, with special constitutional rules and was not subject to any legal action, as this was one of the reasons for its unviability.

Furthermore, the relocation of wholesalers was not proposed, and it can be said that they ignored it; The steps of the project were also not specific to carry out, as a priority, a census of the economically active community in the area, its characteristics and the relocation plans to do the definitive work, and provide outlets, with rights and duties, for people who don’t. – economic activities compatible with the objectives of the project; There was also no strategy on how the peasant market would be established, avoiding the continuation of high tonnage transport; They lacked long-term measures and commitment from the State to social policy, from several administrations, to achieve graduated investments and economic and social benefits for many city residents.

It is concluded that these renewal initiatives are populist, they do not structurally address the problem of the economic power of the wholesalers, nor the “prior de facto consultations” of the communities, which establish multiple conditions for surrender’ r “acquired rights” as tenants of the Municipality of Popayán, and with the alleged support of the politicians in power in the municipality; On the other hand, the representatives of the State intend to solve a complex problem in four years, especially because of its social component, and it is not seen that the previous quality social studies bring improvements to that area.

Possible solutions would have to analyze the productive relationships between wholesalers and retailers, increase efficiency in the processes and avoid chaotic high tonnage traffic, which negatively affects the urban context of the San José University Hospital and the residential development west and north of Popayán. . The road conflicts and the invasion of public spaces must be resolved. It should be remembered that Carrera 6A is a new road which is essential for the proper operation of the SETP-Urbano, and it is intended to move the supposed renewal to that side.

It is also not wise to ignore the Popayán Municipal Area Flood Study, Urban Zone, Civil Engineering-UNICAAUCA, Hydrology Department – 2015, which clearly reveals the high risk condition of the Barrio Bolívar gallery area; Today we should remember the flooding of that space on April 29, 2011 and December 24, 2013, the latter declared a public disaster and an orange warning for Popayán.

• Urban strategic planning should be at the forefront of the challenge that exemplary regeneration represents and the “university city” may have the human talent to design it. Uniting the academic world, the community, economic investment and the State would be convenient to achieve gradual, successful, concerted interventions that are mutually beneficial. Popayán rejects populism of any ideological aspect and demands responsibility for the design of the city’s urban future.
• Sociologist. Social Worker

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It was first published in La Campana Newspaper.