Episode 17: The Gondolas of Medellin

The story of the gondolas of Medellin, Columbia, is the history of Medellin itself. We explore how Medellin went from Spanish colonial mining town to industrial city and then, via building a robust public transportation system - and in particular the gondolas - Medellin transformed itself from a murder capital to a tourist-magnet destination. Medellin took a no-wrong-door, holistic approach to its many problems. In the process, the city built a responsive, but inexpensive, form of public infrastructure well suited to its mountainous, but urban, terrain.

Resources

 

Moment in Equity

 

Wealth Inequality by Country 2023 – https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/wealth-inequality-by-country 

 

Adriaan Alsema, Colombia’s wealth gap bogging down economic growth and progress: World Bank, Columbia Reports (Oct. 28, 2021) – https://colombiareports.com/colombias-wealth-gap-bogging-down-economic-growth-and-progress-world-bank/ 

 

Geography and history of Medellin

 

Political Map of Columbia, nationsonline.org (Undated) – https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/colombia_map.htm#:~:text=About%20Colombia&text=It%20is%20bordered%20by%20Brazil,Cayman%20Islands%20(United%20Kingdom).

 

Medellin, Britannica (Updated Sept. 7, 2022) – https://www.britannica.com/place/Medellin-Colombia

 

Medellin FactFile, MedellinColumbia.co (Undated) – https://www.medellincolombia.co/general-information/medellin-factfile/

 

Brief History of Medellin, casacol (Undated) (author name as Patrick, with no other information) – https://en.casacol.co/2022/06/11/brief-history-of-medellin/

 

Kenneth Fletcher, Columbia Dispatch 9: The Story of Medellin, Smithsonian (Oct. 28, 2008) – https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/colombia-dispatch-9-the-story-of-medellin-88441797/

 

David Freedman, How Medellin, Columbia, Became the World’s Smartest City, Newsweek (Nov. 18, 2019) - https://www.newsweek.com/2019/11/22/medellin-colombia-worlds-smartest-city-1471521.html

 

Gondolas

 

Gondola, Cambridge Dictionary (Undated) (definition) – https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/gondola 

 

Gondola, Online Etymology Dictionary (Undated) – https://www.etymonline.com/word/gondola#:~:text=gondola%20(n.),open%20railway%20cars%20by%201871. 

 

Gondola (disambiguation), Wikipedia (Updated Feb. 20, 2023) (discussing less common transportation-related meanings of the word “gondola”) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gondola_(disambiguation) 

 

Frequently Asked Questions, Georgetown-Roslyn Gondola (Undated) – http://www.georgetownrosslyngondola.com/faqs

 

Gondolas of Medellin

 

Steven Dale, Medellin/Caracas, Part 1, The Gondola Project (Oct. 5, 2015) – https://www.gondolaproject.com/2015/10/05/medellincaracas-part-1/ 

 

Steven Dale, Medellin/Caracas, Part 2, The Gondola Project (Mar. 12, 2010) – https://www.gondolaproject.com/2010/03/12/medellincaracas-part-2/ 

 

Steven Dale, Medellin/Caracas, Part 3, The Gondola Project (Mar. 14, 2010) – https://www.gondolaproject.com/2010/03/14/medellincaracas-part-3/ 

 

Cable Cars as Urban Public Transport in Medellin, Seeds of Good Anth