Cali, Colombia : Toward a City Development Strategy

Although many of the problems that Cali
is experiencing - social and human capital deterioration, a
declining economy, and institutional crisis - are a
reflection of Colombia's complicated socioeconomic
situation, the city has been hit harder by the crisis than
other large cities, as confirmed by the following
indicators: GDP, unemployment, poverty rate, inequality, and
number of homicides. According to recent estimates, the
population in Cali reached the 2 million level in 1999,
making the city the second largest in the country after
Bogota. Internal migration increased significantly during
the early 90s due to the economic boom generated by drug
dealing activities, and continued in the last part of the
decade, due to resettlement movements of large population
groups, affected by social conflict in rural areas. However,
migration flows have generated social tension in the city,
as economic opportunities became scarce. The Bank engaged in
a participatory process to produce a City Development
Strategy (CDS), whose specific objectives are to help the
city administration and stakeholders identify a strategy to
overcome the current crisis, and, be a neutral facilitator
in the reconstruction process. The CDS is being developed in
four stages: 1) identification of the main problems; 2)
development of the analytical framework; 3) dissemination of
results; and, 4) development of a financial plan.