Introduction Thesis Thesis Manuel Chiriboga Prize 2019 “Making the rural urban: Interclass dynamics for the protection of the environment in the Colombian countryside”.
Authors
Summary:
Over the past thirty years, the rural town of La Calera outside of Bogotá, Colombia has received an influx of upper-middle class residents who want to live “in nature”. These new exurban residents came to the Andean mountains to live alongside the old residents, who are descendants of peasants and miners who live “in nature”. Different visions of what nature is or what its uses are create a series of interactions between residents that will decide the future of the ecological resources of this area in the face of growing urban expansion.
Unlike other cases of gentrification, this thesis shows how new and old residents of La Calera use environmental concerns to bridge social class differences and demand that the state provide different services. Both groups of residents create cross-class coalitions through what I call third nature, or the way they want to both protect and continue to use ecological assets by intervening in physical and political landscapes against a state that induces scarcity by selectively enforcing environmental policies to the detriment of Calerunos.
Residents interact in four key places to create third nature. First, they negotiate how to use natural resources for peasant livelihoods while at the same time maintaining “green” aesthetics and practices. Second, new and old residents build community aqueducts for water. Third, they shared a common goal in demanding that they enjoy the ecological and economic benefits of a new “eco-park” project. Finally, they actively criticized planning policies in participatory meetings to stop further urban growth. This thesis opens the door to see similar processes in urban-rural areas in other contexts.
Abstract:
For the past thirty years, the small rural town of La Calera in the outskirts of the Colombian capital of Bogotá has received an influx of upper-middle class residents that want to live “in nature. These ex-urban newcomers arrived to the Andean highlands to live next to the long-time residents, who are descendants of peasants and mining workers that live “off nature.” The different visions of what nature or its uses should be create a series of interactions among residents that will decide the future of this area’s ecological resources in the face of further urban expansion.
Contrary to other gentrification cases, this dissertation shows how newcomers and longtimers in La Calera use environmental concerns to bridge social class rifts and demand the state to provide different services. Newcomers and longtimers create inter-class alliances through what I call third nature, or how they want to both protect and keep using existing ecological goods by intervening in the physical and political landscapes against a state that induces scarcity by selectively enforcing environmental policies to the detriment of Calerunos.
Residents interact in four key sites to create third nature. First, they negotiate how to use natural resources to sustain peasants’ livelihoods while at the same time maintaining “green” aesthetics and practices. Second, newcomers and longtimers build community aqueducts to obtain water from the surrounding páramo ecosystems. Third, Calerunos shared a common goal in demanding they enjoy the ecological and economic benefits of a new “eco-park” project. Finally, residents actively critiqued the planning policies in participatory meetings to halt further urban growth. This dissertation opens the door to see similar processes in rural-urban areas elsewhere.
Main findings:
1- The “ecological awareness” of the newcomers contrasts with the ecological practices of the veterans, which creates places of dispute among neighbors.
2-The rural area of La Calera lacks access to aqueducts. This lack of state support for infrastructure led residents to organize to develop community aqueducts.
3-The San Rafael Ecological Park was to be built in spite of criticism from old and new residents, which they expressed in different joint scenarios.
4-Both groups of residents showed feelings against urban growth and a distrust of the State, which led to a more cohesive response in participatory planning mechanisms.
5-Despite the different uses of nature, residents of La Calera attribute similar meanings to it.
Message from the author
“This text is a somewhat atypical case: instead of conflicts between people of different classes, what my research shows is under what conditions coalitions of convenience can be generated in the face of urban sprawl. The political and environmental interests of diverse groups of residents, together with state regulations, can lead to the development of participatory tools and the use of legal actions to maintain a particular vision of rurality and nature. This text is of interest to social researchers, planners, and community leaders to understand where such cross-class coalition may exist in rural areas.”
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