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83-481: Medellín once had a standard steel-wheeled tramway network. It first was opened as a horse tramway and was later converted to electric trams. Routes were built in stages, and the network reached its maximum size in 1945, served by a fleet of 61 tramcars. However, like most cities around the world during the 1950s and 1960s, the tram service was completely abandoned in 1951. In the late 2000, plans to return trams to Medellín began to come together. The first contracts for

166-441: A derailment on 20 August 2007, three months after its inauguration. There were five derailments on Padua's new installation in 2007 before its inauguration, and one on 22 April 2010 due to a misaligned switch. Where snowfall is an issue this system may not be practical: since the guide rail forms the return leg of the electrical circuit, accumulation of ice and snow on the rail could cause intermittent power interruptions to

249-946: A certain autonomy: the Olaya Herrera Airport , the Public Library ( Biblioteca Pública Piloto ), the College of Antioquia ( Colegio Mayor ), the Urban Development Enterprise (EDU), the Public Service Enterprise (EPM), the Sport and Recreation Institute (INDER), the General Enterprises of Medellín (EEVVM), the Medellín Bus stations, the General Hospital of Medellín, the health service enterprise "Metrosalud",

332-558: A colonial law ordered the separation of Amerindians from mestizos and mulattos , so the colonial administration began the construction of a new town in Aná, today Berrío Park , where the church of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Aná ("Our Lady of Candelaria of Aná") was built. Three years later, the Spaniards started the construction of the Basilica of Our Lady of Candelaria , which was rebuilt at

415-410: A conventional tram, with a length from 25 to 46 metres (82 ft 1 ⁄ 4  in to 150 ft 11 in) long and 2.2 metres (7 ft 2 + 5 ⁄ 8  in) wide. Their net weight is 23–44 tonnes (22.6–43.3 long tons; 25.4–48.5 short tons), depending upon the number of car sections. As Translohr LRVs cannot run without a guide rail they are not classified as buses; those used on

498-437: A driver who stops and starts, accelerating and braking when needed. Power is provided by overhead wires and collected with a pantograph in the same way as a tram. The vehicle carries internal battery packs for use on non-electrified sections of the route. There are two main designs for the vehicles: the bi-directional STE series, and the unidirectional SP Prime series. They consist of three to six articulated sections like

581-558: A labor union, which hampered its international growth for many years, a new formal name was chosen. It is represented by David Bojanini, head of Grupo Suramericana (a banking, asset management and insurance conglomerate); Carlos Ignacio Gallego of Grupo Nutresa (food industry); José Alberto Velez of Cementos Argos (a multinational cement company); and Carlos Raúl Yepes, head of Bancolombia . This group has an aggregate market capitalization of approximately US$ 17 billion and employs more than 80,000 Colombians. Translohr Translohr

664-408: A municipality, Medellín has an area of 382 km (147 sq mi). Medellín features a trade-wind tropical rainforest climate ( Af ), albeit a cooler version of this climate that borders closely on a tropical monsoon climate ( Am ), as well as having characteristics of a tropical highland climate ( Cfb ). Since Medellín is located at 1,495 m (4,900 ft) above sea level , its climate

747-475: A new era of political instability with the murder of presidential candidate Jorge Eliecer Gaitán in Bogotá in 1948. Political violence spread in the rural areas of Colombia, and farmers fled to the cities. The Valley slopes became overpopulated with slums. As the population of Medellín grew quickly during the 1950s, industrialists, traders and local government created the "Medellín Master Plan" (MMP) ( Plan Piloto ),

830-679: A plan for the expansion of the city into the Aburrá Valley that would lead to the creation of the first metropolitan area in Colombia. Paul Lester Wiener and José Luis Sert were the architects who led the project. Among the main features of the MMP were the canalization of the Medellín River , the control of new settlements on valley slopes, the creation of an industrial zone in the Guayabal District,

913-602: A rate of 23 per 100,000 inhabitants. In the city there are more than 1,100 security cameras and more than 7,000 policemen. Medellín is Colombia's second most important economic center, after Bogotá . Its economy is led by a powerful group of people from the private sector known as the Grupo Empresarial Antioqueño (Antioquian Enterprises Group). The group was formerly known as the Sindicato Antioqueño (Antioquian Union) but after being mistaken abroad for

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996-528: A rubber-tyred system due to the elevations in this area. A Translohr vehicle should be ideal for climbing the 12% grade on Calle 49 – also known as Avenida Ayacucho – which was the path of the Buenos Aires tram line until 1951 (see Trams in Medellin ). From two points on the line aerial cableways (teleféricos, Seilbahnen), each with two sections, the line carries passengers even higher into the hills. Construction of

1079-521: A transport system. The position of Medellín as an industrial city in Antioquia has been the main factor in overcoming its crisis of the 1980s and 1990s. The Medellín Metro , a massive urban transport service, became the pride of the city. The construction of the Plaza Mayor of Medellín , an international center for congresses and expositions, was designed to showcase the globalized economy of Colombia to

1162-639: Is a rubber-tyred tramway system, originally developed by Lohr Industrie of France and now run by a consortium of Alstom Transport and Fonds stratégique d'investissement (FSI) as newTL , which took over from Lohr in 2012. It is used in Paris and Clermont-Ferrand , France; Medellín , Colombia; and Venice-Mestre and Padua in Italy. In June 2012, Alstom Group and the Strategic Investment Fund acquired Translohr for €35 million. The Translohr system

1245-738: Is a city governed by a republican democratic system as stated in the Colombian Constitution of 1991 , with decentralized government. Administration is shared by the Mayor of Medellín and the Municipal Council, both elected by popular vote. The municipality is made up of official departments ( secretarías ) including departments for social mobility, urban culture, social development, education, evaluation and control, government, resources, public works, administrative services, environment, women, and transportation. There are also many departments with

1328-533: Is a proprietary system subject to vendor lock-in , requiring purchase of any further vehicles from Lohr Industrie. This may no longer be a problem after the patents expire if other manufacturers produce compatible vehicles. Several lines under construction or already built were eventually abandoned or shut down due to planning changes and operational difficulties. For example, L'Aquila , which started demolition work in 2013; Latina , which purchased new vehicles in 2016 but did not put them into operation because

1411-478: Is constant year-round, with minimal temperature variations. Temperatures range from 17 to 28 °C (63 to 82 °F). Because of the former pleasant springlike climate all year, Medellín was known as "La Ciudad de la Eterna Primavera" or "City of the Eternal Spring". The city is located in a valley and many of its districts are on slopes; temperatures can be slightly cooler on the surrounding mountains. Medellín

1494-401: Is more like a tram or light railway than a bus or trolleybus . Unlike other guided bus systems, including the similar but incompatible Guided Light Transit system developed by Bombardier Transportation , Translohr cars must permanently follow guide rails that they cannot divert from, like traditional steel-wheeled rail vehicles . The guide rail automatically guides the vehicle, with

1577-460: Is not as hot as other cities located at the same latitude near the equator. Because of its altitude above sea level and privileged location in the Andes Range, Medellín's weather at times is more characteristic of a humid subtropical climate than that of a tropical climate . The city's average annual temperature is 23 °C (73 °F), and because of its proximity to the equator, its temperature

1660-633: The Medellín rivers; others lived in El Poblado San Lorenzo. After the royal edict, the settlers chose the Aná site as the heart of the future city, with the Candelaria Church at its center. Their first buildings were simple, with thatched roofs. The houses of the most important people were two stories tall, and the church and the Cabildo were unimpressive. It was only during the 18th century that

1743-608: The Overseas Development Institute have lauded the city as a pioneer of a post- Washington Consensus " local development state " model of economic development. The city is promoted internationally as a tourist destination and is considered a global city type "Gamma +" by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network . The Medellín Metropolitan Area produces 67% of the Department of Antioquia 's GDP and 11% of

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1826-567: The San Antonio Square to the Oriente neighbourhood of Medellín. A payment before entering the tram is made with either the Civic Card, which is a rechargeable electronic transport title, using an RFID system (acronym for Radio Frequency Identification) or with a contactless smart card, which is detected by the readers from a distance of about 8 cm. It is one of the means of payment to use

1909-619: The Special District of Science, Technology and Innovation of Medellín ( Spanish : Distrito Especial de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación de Medellín ), is the second-largest city in Colombia after Bogotá , and the capital of the department of Antioquia . It is located in the Aburrá Valley , a central region of the Andes Mountains , in northwestern South America. The city's population

1992-589: The economy of Colombia . Medellín is important to the region for its universities, academies, commerce, industry, science, health services, flower-growing, and festivals. In February 2013, the Urban Land Institute chose Medellín as the most innovative city in the world due to its recent advances in politics, education, and social development. In the same year, Medellín won the Veronica Rudge Urbanism Award conferred by Harvard University to

2075-622: The queen consort Mariana of Austria founded the "Town of Our Lady of Candelaria of Medellín" ( Villa de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria de Medellín ) in the Aná region, which today corresponds to the center of the city (east-central zone) and first describes the region as "Medellín". In 1826, the city was named the capital of the Department of Antioquia by the National Congress of the nascent Republic of Gran Colombia , comprising present-day Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Panama. After Colombia won its independence from Spain, Medellín became

2158-611: The 19th century, became a center for intellectual and industrialist movements, like Club Union (founded in 1894) and Club Campestre (founded in 1924). In 1909, the Circo España was created, and Bolívar Theater in 1919. The art nouveau Junín Theater was demolished to build the Coltejer Tower , now the tallest building in the city. Cine Colombia, the first movie distributor of the country, was founded in Medellín in 1927. Colombia entered

2241-509: The AUC was completed, with more than 3,000 armed men giving up their weapons. After the disbanding of the main paramilitary groups, some members briefly reorganized into criminal bands known commonly as Aguilas Negras ("Black Eagles"). These groups gained notoriety in Medellín for having called for curfews for the underage population, and having distributed fliers announcing the social cleansing of prostitutes, drug addicts , and alcoholics . In 2008

2324-473: The Aburrá valley at an elevation of 1,500 meters (4,900 feet) above sea level and is bisected by the Medellín River (also called Porce), which flows northward. North of the valley are the towns of Bello , Copacabana , Girardota , and Barbosa . To the south of the valley lie Itagüí , Envigado , Sabaneta , La Estrella , and Caldas . The weather in Medellín is warm year-round with few temperature extremes. As

2407-590: The Aguacatala metro station to the Caribe metro station, providing connections in-between to Metroplús as well as halting at the Floresta metro station. The number 80 would be used to designate this line. Mayor Federico Gutiérrez in his campaign also proposed as a mobility proposal to build another corridor using the same tram technology connecting the Aguacatala station with Palos Verdes, crossing Avenue 34 until Palmas, and

2490-544: The Bombardier Guided Light Transit system, resulting in extensive repairs at significant cost to the operator. This adds to already high running costs. Providing roll ways , as used by rubber-tyred metros , embedded in the road surface might have been useful. Ride quality is also said to be poor, little better than a bus , due to the four-wheeled design, whereas trams have trucks ( bogies ) with shock absorbers or springs . The Tianjin system suffered

2573-467: The Clermont-Ferrand network do not need to have license plates . The 14 km (8.7 mi) Châtillon–Viroflay Line in Paris cost €27.4m per km, including infrastructure, improvements of the right-of-way , and the purchase of 28 STE6 vehicles. In addition, due to the tyres constantly running over the same area of road, there is significant erosion of the roadway; this has already happened with

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2656-478: The Integrated Transport System of the Aburrá Valley ( SITVA ), which allows a greater speed in the entries by tourniquet and in the time of loading and reloading of the card. The process can be carried out by Colombians presenting their citizenship card and by foreigners presenting their alien registration card or passport, in customer service points. It is planned to construct a tram line running from

2739-469: The MMP, so that Medellín now reached the urban areas of other cities of the Aburrá Valley, like Envigado , Bello and Itagüí ; the new Medellín settlers were poor families without enough credit to buy their own homes, so several neighborhoods were built beyond the MMP; several old downtown buildings were demolished to construct tall towers, offices, and avenues. In 1968 the Second Conference of CELAM

2822-597: The Machine (1988). Arts and literature have been an important social element in Medellín. The University of Antioquia , the National University of Colombia with its Medellín branch, and the Pontifical Bolivarian University have historically been the academic centers of the city and are responsible for the formation of an intellectual class in the region. During the first part of the 20th century,

2905-620: The Metropolitan Institute of Technology (ITM), the Metro de Medellín , the department for the Administration of the Medellín parks (Metroparques) and Metroseguridad. The municipality is divided into six zones: The urban zone, which is subdivided into 16 comunas (communes). The communes are further divided into 249 statistical neighborhoods. The remaining zones outside the urban zones comprise five corregimientos (townships). Further,

2988-601: The US cities of Baltimore, St. Louis, Detroit and New Orleans, which appear in the CCSPJP's top 50 list. As the home of the Medellín Cartel funded by Pablo Escobar , the city was a victim of the terror caused by the war between the organization headed by Escobar, and competing organizations such as "El Cartel del Valle". However, after the death of Escobar in December 1993, crime rates in

3071-590: The Urban Development Enterprise, mainly due to the North-Western Integral Development Project in the city. Medellín hosted UN-Habitat's 7th World Urban Forum in 2014. In 2016, the city won the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize. The award seeks to recognize and celebrate efforts in furthering innovation in urban solutions and sustainable urban development. The valley and its Spanish settlement have gone by several names over

3154-566: The Year due to a great advancement in public transportation, with more than 500,000 residents and visitors using its Metro train system each day; a public bike-share program; new facilities and landmarks, including the España Library and a cultural center in Moravia; a large outdoor escalator the size of a 28-story building, enabling residents of the city's elevated Comuna 13 neighborhood to safely ride down

3237-623: The capital of the Federal State of Antioquia until 1888, with the proclamation of the Colombian Constitution of 1886 . During the 19th century, Medellín was a dynamic commercial center, first exporting gold, then producing and exporting coffee. Towards the end of the 20th century and into the beginning of the 21st, the city regained industrial dynamism, with the construction of the Medellín Metro commuter rail, liberalized development policies and improvement in security and education. Researchers at

3320-440: The center. From 2010 and 2011, homicides have declined as with crime in general, but there remains a high crime rate in the poorest communities. 3.2 percent of street addresses account for 97 percent of homicides. More than half of the violent deaths are attributed to clashes between criminal gangs in certain parts of the city. In 1991 there were 7,273 murders at a rate of 266 per 100,000 people; in 2017 had suffered 577 murders at

3403-540: The church was improved. Only one story, the Cabildo was located at the western part of the plaza. It had a thatched roof until 1742 when tiles were put on. In 1682, traders and foreigners started the construction of the Veracruz Hermitage , which was consecrated as a church by the Bishop of Popayán in 1712. In 1675, the first census during colonial times was taken: there were 3,000 people and 280 families. Another census

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3486-557: The city administration, Medellín Solidaria represents an improvement on Colombia's national program, 'Familias en Accion' (Families in Action). The city administration is further responsible for coordinating more than 100 other social programs. Under the Cultura E program, the city administration has established a network of 14 publicly funded business support centers known as CEDEZO, Centros de Desarrollo Empresarial Zonal). The CEDEZOs are found in

3569-519: The city center to the eastern part of the city. All stops have side platforms except for both termini, which have island platforms. Rolling stock was manufactured by Translohr . All trams are low-floor and fully air-conditioned. Each tramcar has five sections. The only tram depot is at Miraflores. Termini are San Antonio , and Oriente . The modern tram route runs completely on concrete roadway. It has an interchange with Medellín Metro Lines 1 and 2 at San Antonio station . The modern tram runs from

3652-511: The city have decreased dramatically. Throughout the rest of the 1990s crime rates remained relatively high, although gradually declining from the worst years. In October 2002, President Álvaro Uribe ordered the military to carry out "Operation Orion", the objective of which was to disband the urban militias of the FARC and the AUC . Between 2003 and 2006 the demobilization of the remaining urban militias of

3735-437: The city was part of the literary transition from romanticism to the modern art and literary movements of the new century. The writer Tomás Carrasquilla (1858–1940) focused on the people of his native Antioquia, portraying their daily lives and customs. The writer and philosopher Fernando González from Envigado (in the metropolitan area of Medellín), the cartoonist Ricardo Rendón , and the poet León de Greiff were some of

3818-490: The city's ownership of the main energy supplier, Empresas Publicas de Medellín (EPM); 30% of its profits go directly to the city's administrative budget. In addition to infrastructure projects, the city administration has developed a program of cash grants called 'the Medellín Solidaria' program that is very similar to Brazil 's highly successful Bolsa Familia and also the city runs the Cultura E program. According to

3901-618: The college moved to a new building in the small San Ignacio square. In 1821 it was renamed Colegio de Antioquia, and it became the University of Antioquia in 1901. The university also had the first vocational training school, the first cultural radio station in Latin America, and the first regional botanical garden . In the first half of the twentieth century, the population of Medellín increased sixfold, from 59,815 inhabitants in 1905 to 358,189 in 1951. The Thousand Days War (1899–1902) stopped

3984-451: The continuing further down the avenue, crossing the Ayacucho tram before arriving at its terminal. The tram route would also provide a connection with Metroplús. Medell%C3%ADn Medellín ( / ˌ m ɛ d ə ˈ l iː n / MED -ə- LEEN / ˌ m ɛ d eɪ ˈ ( j ) iː n / MED -ay- (Y)EEN ; Spanish: [meðeˈʝin] or [meðeˈʎin] ), officially

4067-707: The difficult geography of one of the most mountainous regions of South America, notably with the La Quiebra Tunnel , which connected the industrial center to the Magdalena River , the most major navigable river in Colombia. In 1932 Medellín also built its first airport, the Enrique Olaya Herrera Airport . The study by Charles H. Savage on industrial production in Antioquia between 1960 and 1972 showed how important Medellín industries became to Colombia and South America. He studied social change produced by

4150-450: The early development of Medellín, the export of coffee contributed the most impetus in the 20th century for the city's growth. Trade grew to international dimensions as the main export of Colombia became coffee . The industrial and commercial dynamism of Medellín also created a caste of traders and entrepreneurs, who founded the first nationwide industries in Colombia. Coltejer is one of the most important textile companies in Colombia. It

4233-458: The edict creating the Cabildo on November 22, 1674. The governor Miguel de Aguinaga proclaimed the royal edict on 2 November 1675. The new city was given the title of Villa de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria . Before the creation of the town, the inhabitants were scattered throughout the valley, with only a few families concentrated at the confluence of the Aná (today called the Santa Elena ) and

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4316-471: The end of the 18th century. After 1574, with Gaspar de Rodas settled in the valley, the population started to grow. According to the church records of the San Lorenzo Church, six couples married between 1646 and 1650, and 41 between 1671 and 1675. Gold mines were developed northeast of Antioquia, thus they needed food supply from nearby agriculture. The Aburrá Valley was in a strategic position between

4399-400: The ending of tram operations. Beginning in the 1980s, these problems grew severe, and by the mid-1990s, the inhabitants of Medellín realized that the unbridled use of private cars and the closure of the old tram had been a mistake. A metro system was opened in 1995, using a small part of former tram network, and gradually two metro routes were constructed. But for many low density areas, this

4482-463: The error of closing the former tram network, the government started to initiate measures to decrease pollution as soon as possible. Downtown Medellín was already served by the metro, but the public transportation in eastern Medellín was not sufficient. To resolve this challenge, the transport authority decided in 2015 to construct the first tramway in the Miraflores area, which lies on the eastern side of

4565-452: The extradition of paramilitary leader Don Berna caused a brief spark in crime wave and increase in killings. There is a significant disparity in crime rates by neighborhoods, with virtually no homicides in El Poblado and Conquistadores and higher crime rates in the south west, around the airport and the north of the city. Generally, crime rates increase the further the neighborhood is from

4648-506: The first test runs took place. Free, limited passenger service began on 15 October 2015, and on 31 March 2016 regular passenger operations officially started. After the closure of the tram network in the 1950s, the people of Medellín thought the only unfashionable obstacle of smooth city traveling had been removed, and the city could move faster than before, but it proved false some years later. The uncontrolled increase in motor vehicles like buses , taxicabs , and private cars started choking

4731-405: The founders of Los Panidas , a Medellín literary movement. Other featured poets and writers were Porfirio Barba-Jacob and Efe Gómez . In painting, the most famous were Eladio Vélez and Pedro Nel Gómez . Carlos Vieco Ortiz was a popular composer and musician. Medellín became the headquarters of record labels like Sonolux, Ondina, and Silver. Medellín clubs, many of them dating to the end of

4814-502: The gold mines and the first provincial capital of Antioquia, Santa Fe de Antioquia . The provincial capital, Santa Fe, started to lose importance and gradually became poor, as trade and prominent personalities of the region came to the Aburrá Valley, where rich families started to buy land. Soon, the first settlers asked for the creation of a Cabildo (council) in the valley, thus getting a separate government from Santa Fe. The Santa Fe government fought this, but Mariana of Austria signed

4897-412: The industrial development of the city, although the civil war did not affect the region directly. Under reforms by President Rafael Reyes after the conflict, the city continued its industrial development and founded a Chamber of commerce . The Chamber developed a regional transport project that connected Medellín to other Colombian regions and other nations. Despite the importance of gold production in

4980-588: The introduction of new technology. Savage looked at three factories in Antioquia: two potteries in Santuario and La Blanca , and a tailoring factory in Medellín. Savage studied the production of the Antioquian factories, and the relationship between the workers and their employers, an industrial efficiency which he called the "Culture of Work". His conclusions were published by his colleague George F. Lombardi as Sons of

5063-479: The local chief-men. In 1574, Gaspar de Rodas asked the Antioquia's Cabildo for 10 square kilometers (4 sq mi) of land to establish herds and a ranch in the valley. The Cabildo granted him 8 square kilometers (3 sq mi) of land. In 1616, the colonial visitor Francisco de Herrera y Campuzano founded a settlement with 80 Amerindians, naming it Poblado de San Lorenzo , today " El Poblado ". In 1646

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5146-529: The local economy with new micro-enterprises. However, several mayoral candidates for the October 2011 elections have argued the Banco de las Opportunidades's interest rates are too high, loan maturity is too short and it should have grace periods . They, therefore, suggest a new small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) development bank to complement the Banco de las Opportunidades. Medellín used to be considered one of

5229-417: The main city. On 13 May 2011 the city signed a contract with Lohr Industrie of France (acquired by Alstom in 2012) to build a Translohr line between the San Antonio metro junction and the east side of the town – a sort of eastward continuation of metro route B. A Translohr vehicle resembles a tram and draws power from overhead wires, but runs on rubber tyres and is guided by a center rail. It was decided to use

5312-407: The most dangerous cities in the world, a result of an urban war set off by the drug cartels at the end of the 1980s. However, its homicide rate has decreased by 95% and extreme poverty by 66%, thanks in part to a string of innovative mayors who laid out plans to integrate the poorest and most violent hillside neighborhoods into the city center in the valley below. Medellín is now considered safer than

5395-482: The municipality belongs to the Medellín Metropolitan Area , which is made up of ten neighboring municipalities. The government of the city of Medellín is divided into executive and legislative branches. The mayor of the city (Alcalde) is publicly elected for a term of four years (just like the president and the governor of any other department in Colombia). Low tax rates mean Medellín's city administration's social and economic development policies have been funded by

5478-427: The name of his town, Medellín in Extremadura, to the new settlement in America. His request was accepted on November 22, 1674, when the Regent Mariana of Austria proclaimed the city's name to be Villa de Nuestra Señora de Medellín . Miguel Aguinaga y Mendiogoitia, Governor, made the name official on November 2, 1675. The Crown granted a coat of arms to the city on June 24, 1676. In August 1541, Marshal Jorge Robledo

5561-565: The new "tramway" began in 2012. The first of the 12 Translohr vehicles arrived from France in July 2014. Metro de Medellín carried out the first test runs on Monday, 13 July 2015. The line is operated by Metro de Medellín, although it is not a metro. The modern tram routes completely run on unreserved tracks and in the middle of the road. Due to rubber-tyres, it is not possible to lay tracks on grass, as they can only be built on concrete road. The tram runs through many numerical avenues via Buenos Aires, Miraflores, Alejandro Echevarria and connects

5644-431: The planning of the city to be in harmony with the river, the construction of a city stadium, and an administrative center in La Alpujarra . Little of the plan was actually done. In 1951 the city had 358,189 inhabitants, but 22 years later, in 1973, the population had tripled to 1,071,252. The population explosion had several consequences for the MMP. The urban limits of the city grew to areas that were not contemplated in

5727-519: The poorest areas of Medellín and support the poor in developing business by providing free-of-charge business support services and technical advice. Also, as part of Cultura E, there is Banco de las Opportunidades that provides microloans (up to $ 2,500 at a cheap interest rate of 0.91% monthly). This has helped create more equal opportunities for all and overcome the barriers to entry to business for poor entrepreneurs with good ideas, but lacking capital, skills and connections. It has also helped develop

5810-425: The project, to be known as the Tranvía de Ayacucho (Ayacucho Tram), were signed in 2011. It was decided that the new Medellín tramway would uses Translohr vehicles, imported from France , as rubber-tyred trams would be able to handle the line's steep hills better than a conventional steel-wheeled tramway. Construction of the line began in 2012, and delivery of the Translohr vehicles began in 2014. On 13 July 2015,

5893-519: The steep hillside; and a Metro system which reduces Medellín's CO 2 emissions by 175,000 tons each year. Medellín has the biggest research-dedicated building in Colombia, called University Research Building ( Spanish : Sede de Investigación Universitaria, SIU ), a facility that concentrates the top research groups of the University of Antioquia . Medellín has 16 comunas (districts), 5 corregimientos (townships), and 271 barrios (neighborhoods). The metropolitan area of Medellín lies within

5976-425: The streets of Medellín. Like most South American countries, Colombia was suffering under many problems typically seen in developing countries, including pollution , traffic jam , illegal migration , low literacy and a booming population . The population growth of Medellín led to increasing number of private cars finding their way to the streets, jamming traffic in the city. The city even became slower than before

6059-433: The vehicle. Also, as the guide wheels support almost no weight, snow packed into the flangeways or atop the rail by road traffic may cause the wheels to lose grip and become slippery. Since the guide wheels each grip the guide rail at a 45-degree angle and thus are at 90-degree angle to each other, the risk of the guide wheels being lifted completely off the rails is minimal. Critics of the system also point out that Translohr

6142-410: The world. Social exclusion has eased due to the development of a transport infrastructure; a new system of public buses called "Metroplus" opened in December 2011, and gondolas called "MetroCable", which help connect the poorest barrio communities in the hills to the city, have been in operation since 2004, with more routes being added in recent years. Additionally, an electric escalator 1,260 feet long

6225-451: The years, including Aburrá de los Yamesíes , "Valley of Saint Bartholomew", "Saint Lawrence of Aburrá", "Saint Lawrence of Aná", Villa de la Candelaria de Medellín , and finally "Medellín". The name "Medellín" comes from Medellín, Spain , a small village in the Badajoz province of Extremadura . The village is known for being the birthplace of Hernán Cortés . The Spanish Medellín, in turn,

6308-485: Was 2,508,452 at the 2018 census . The metro area of Medellín is the second-largest urban agglomeration in Colombia in terms of population and economy, with more than 4 million people. In 1616, the Spaniard Francisco de Herrera Campuzano erected a small indigenous village ( poblado ) known as " Saint Lawrence of Aburrá" ( San Lorenzo de Aburrá ), located in the present-day El Poblado commune. On 2 November 1675,

6391-570: Was founded in Medellín by Alejandro Echavarría on October 22, 1907. Its headquarters, the Coltejer Building , is the tallest skyscraper in Medellín and the fourth tallest building in Colombia. The discovery of coal in Amagá , a few kilometers south of the Aburrá Valley, and the building of hydroelectric plants provided the new industries with energy, and this allowed the creation of many smaller companies. The Antioquia Railway (built in 1875) conquered

6474-616: Was held in Medellín expressing a preferential option for the poor . The traditional Junin Theatre along the Santa Elena was demolished to build the Coltejer Tower. The huge migration into Medellín provided workers for the expansion of textile factories, being modernized in this period, but it also created new problems for the city: higher unemployment, lack of services for poor areas, urban violence in several districts, and collapse of any hope of

6557-423: Was in the place known today as Heliconia when he saw in the distance what he thought was a valley. He sent Jerónimo Luis Tejelo to explore the territory, and during the night of August 23, Tejelo reached the plain of what is now Aburrá Valley. The Spaniards gave it the name of "Valley of Saint Bartholomew ", but this was soon changed for the native name Aburrá , meaning "Painters", due to the textile decorations of

6640-524: Was inaugurated on December 26, 2011, in Comuna 13 , one of Medellín's poorest neighborhoods, making it one of the first of its kind in the world. Today's Medellín includes spaces for art, poetry, drama, the construction of public libraries, the foundation of new ecological parks, and the inclusion of people of the city in its development. In 2012, Medellín was among 200 cities around the world, including New York and Tel Aviv, nominated for Most Innovative City of

6723-414: Was not an ideal solution, so the metro was not extended throughout all neighborhoods of Medellín. Many cities around the world like Tunis , Algiers , Sydney , Buenos Aires , Shanghai , Dublin , Edinburgh , Athens , etc. all faced similar problems at the time, and had opted to reintroduce a tram network. Inspired by these examples, the city of Medellín also decided to return the tram. Trying to fix

6806-629: Was not taken until the colonial Visitador (royal inspector) Antonio Mon y Velarde es ordered one between 1786 and 1787: there were then 14,507 people and 241 families. In 1808, two years before Colombia won independence, the city had 15,347 people and 360 families. In 1803, the Royal College of the Franciscans was founded in the Central Plaza, which is Berrío Park today, with the initial departments of Grammar, Philosophy, and Theology. Soon after,

6889-720: Was originally called "Metellinum" and was named after the Roman General Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius in 75 BC who founded the village as a military base. Some of the Conquistadors , such as Gaspar de Rodas , the first governor of Antioquia, came from the region of Badajoz . Count Pedro Portocarrero y Luna, President of the Council for the West Indies ( Consejo de Indias ), asked the Spanish monarchy to give

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