Water Urbanism in Bogotá. Exploring the interplay between settlement patterns and water management

A paradigm shift in water management is perceived as a necessary and fundamental step for adaptation to climate change and crucial for furthering sustainability. In contexts of rapid urbanization, this paradigm shift is particularly challenged; at the heart of this are social issues and specific forms of city production, the latter of which are partially shaped by processes that previously denied the landscape structure. The Bogotá Savanna is an unevenly urbanized area with a population of 8,661,534. Its scale and complexity emphasise the need for an approach, which is both flexible and strategic; the future of the ̔urban̕ depends on the ability to reformulate traditional disciplines and methods. The unsustainable over-extension of urbanization on the Bogotá Savanna, its current vulnerability to flooding, large-scale pollution and the serious shortcomings of water management have made it crucial to not only reconsider the water system but to drastically transform it, augmenting its resilience. Additionally, one of the biggest challenges facing the city is the provision of 300,000 low-income housing units and the upgrading of living conditions in informal settlements. Environmental and liveability issues have stronger impacts on the periphery, where informal settlements are located, than in the rest of the city. This condition reinforces the strong and polarized geography of centrality and marginality. The question is what would happen if urbanization trends would be reversed into a constructive interplay with water? This article investigates the evolution of water management and its relationship to urbanization in El Tintal watershed, a sub-watershed of the Bogotá River. This watershed is occupied by informal settlements as well as recent large social housing projects. Through the analysis of this landscape, mapping and historical research, this article provides a basis for future design explorations of the spatial potential of the water system and for context-responsive solutions to this wet and fertile plateau.status: publishe