Urban growth processes in Bogotà’s metropolitan/regional area: From overflowing to efficient and sustainable planning of articulated peri-urban growth.

The concept of urban growth has been studied in the Global North as a way to understand the constant and excessively accelerated urbanization that cities presented mainly in the 19th and 20th century. There are many ways to consider and analyze this phenomenon, since the constant evolution of urban settlements and the adaptation to technological and social trends have resulted in the mixing of multiple social, economic, environmental, physical, and political factors that have allowed to observe and to understand the influence that urban growth has according to the context in which it is presented. Although it is true that it is possible to determine fixed elements and characteristics independent of the context, it should be emphasized that urban growth processes have occurred in shorter periods of time in Latin America, resulting in unique developments and consequences for the region. The complexity of the growth of cities in Latin America makes of this region a unique case study for this thesis, which aims to use literature and data collection to evaluate the development of urban growth and its physical, socio-economic, and environmental impacts. The thesis consists of three parts. The first, is a literature review urban growth from different points of view and historical models, understanding its development in the Latin American context, the effects of urban regeneration on accelerated urbanization, the concept of productive city and informal settlements as a physical consequence of these urban processes. The second part aims to make a field observation in Bogotá, which consists of a quantitative approach, in order to analyze and compare municipal and regional documents, spatial data, in addition to historical literature, the temporal evolution of the metropolitan/regional area of Bogotá and its current condition. Finally, a proposal of a planning model is presented, which, under the lens of an understanding of previous examples in other parts of the world and the current condition of the study area, is adapted to the context to allow for an efficient territorial organization, sustainable and articulated economic activities, urban growth, and population flows over the next 30 years.