Neglected landscapes and green infrastructure: The case of the Limas Creek in Bogotá, Colombia

The landscape of Bogotá’s low-income informal settlements reveals intense and ongoing conflicts between political agendas, socio-environmental needs and everyday practices. This paper presents the results of an interdisciplinary research project that used semi-structured interviews with practitioners, academics and community leaders to critically investigate the interactions between people and landscape in Bogotá. The paper aims to deepen the understanding of the social and ecological processes that are constantly intertwined in the occupation and appropriation of the landscape. Using the Limas Creek as a case study, the paper explores the technological constraints, governance structures, cultural values and community agency around the restoration of rivers and the implementation of green infrastructure in low-income settlements in Bogotá. The research highlights the need to explore the demands of co-production and its relation to the challenges of sustainable development. The paper demonstrates that, in addition to sustainable solutions to water management, there is also a need to develop strategies around education, landscape attachment and environmental awareness. This is seen as a first step towards the re-articulation of the relationship between people and water in the urban realm to ultimately guarantee environmental justice.