Urban growth and spatial marginality in Cartagena de Indias. The Ciénaga de la Virgen's urban border as case study

Abstract

Historical conditions of spatial inequality in Latin American cities perpetuate conditions of marginality in their communities due to difficulties in accessing health, education and services, leisure and specialized work. In such a way, in the analysis of marginality, the investigation into its causes takes on great value, which as historical forces, generate forms of disadvantage that historically keep groups of society on the sidelines, unleashing multiple urban conflicts. This article hypothesizes that spatial inequality in urban development leads to structural conditions of socioeconomic marginality. These phenomena are analyzed in the urban border of the Ciénaga de la Virgen, in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. The methodology includes the use of quantitative methods with data from the Population and Housing Census for the characterization and generation of homogeneous areas in terms of vulnerabilities present in the territory; and the use of qualitative methods, which include workshops with community leaders and organizations for the construction of diagnostic cartography on aspects related to the dynamics of sociability in the territory. The findings show the existence of unequivocal relationships between the population's multidimensional poverty conditions and the worst urban development conditions, in terms of housing conditions, access to services, and proximity to main connectivity routes.

Keywords:
Socioeconomic marginality; Urban segregation; Urban development; Social cartography; Cartagena de Indias