Revista de la Mañana. Historia y deterioro de la avenida Caracas como eje de la modernización de Bogotá

Abstract

Fernando Rojas, a political scientist, historian, and Master in Urban Management, explains that Avenida Caracas is a fundamental axis for understanding the modernization of Bogotá, which at the beginning of the 20th century was a small "town." The Caracas was initially conceived as an urban project, the "Champs-Élysées of Bogotá," built upon the old northern railway line. This vision of an avenue-boulevard, planned by urbanists like Karl Brunner starting in 1933, sought to create a hygienic and architecturally defined space for the elite, contrasting with the colonial center, and subsequently making way for the first rental buildings for the middle class (between 45th and 69th streets). However, this dream of modernity quickly declined starting in 1946 due to the strong opposition of the Modernist movement (inspired by Le Corbusier), the development of new monumental avenues like Las Américas and Décima, and Bogotá's urban expansion toward the West. The deterioration of the Caracas was exacerbated until it was transformed into a transport axis, first with Andrés Pastrana's bus-only corridor (which failed because it wasn't an integral transport project) and then with TransMilenio. Rojas criticizes that the corridor, although initially improving the Caracas, is now a focal point of chaos and insecurity that reflects citizen anger. Currently, Enrique Peñalosa's Elevated Metro project promises a new modernization, but the expert disagrees, arguing that it won't address the city's needs, will compromise financial resources with long-term debt, and will continue prioritizing the TransMilenio vision. Rojas concludes that the history of the Caracas is an example of how the thirteen urban plans Bogotá had between 1930 and 1997 failed by not materializing a comprehensive vision for the city, being overcome by the influence of developers, land speculation, and the lack of social cohesion