The Aburrá Valley Metropolitan Green Belt: A Strategy for Harmonious and Balanced Articulation Between Urban and Rural Areas

Abstract

Written by Medellín's Secretariat of the Environment, this article presents the Metropolitan Green Belt program as a long-term comprehensive planning and intervention strategy to address uncontrolled urban expansion, coordinated with the Central Antioquia Park. The text identifies four central problems on the city's hillsides: improper land occupation, social inequity, weak governance, and loss of ecosystem assets, and describes the program's five components: an environmental and rural protection strip, a pedestrian path, a bicycle path, a facilities corridor, and a clean-mobility corridor, presenting the Green Belt as a model of territorial occupation that harmonizes urban development with environmental conservation.