Chompas de alpaca

Medellín is the core of the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley, formed by nine municipalities, which in total account for a population of 3.5 million. Medellín alone accounts for almost three million inhabitants.296 The city is divided into 16 Comunas (districts), which are further divided into Barrios (neighborhoods). In total the city contains 249 barrios.297

In this section, I talk about the Comuna 4 or District 4 also known as Aranjuez.It was chosen for the study because it houses the Hip-hop school Cuatro Elementos Skuela, presented in Chapter 5, located in the neighborhood with the same name (Aranjuez). I discuss the ways in which this sector was formed and its actual structure. Also, I present the major problems and needs of the community and the ways in which these issues affected youth.!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 293 _{Riaño, Dwellers of Memory, 8-9.}

294 _{Rodríguez, Lo que le vamos quitando a la Guerra, 13.} 295 _Ibid.

296 _{“Estimaciones de Población 1985-2005 y Proyecciones de Población 2005-2020. Total Municipal por}

área, en 2012,” last modified November 7, 2012.

http://www.dane.gov.co/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75&Itemid=72

297 _{Alcaldía de Medellín, “Límites Administrativos y Politicos,” accessed December 2, 2013.}

The Comuna 4, Aranjuez is located in the northeastern part of Medellin. It borders districts 1 and 2 (Popular and Santa Cruz) on the north, and district 3 (Manrique) on the east; on the west by the Medellín River, and on the south by district 10 (La Candelaria). It has an area of 486.45 hectares, which corresponds to 30.9 percent of the northeastern and 4.7 percent of urban land Medellin.298!

The estimated population of Aranjuez District is 161,491 inhabitants, which is about 7% of the total population of Medellín (Medellín est. population 2.441,123 inhabitants). 299 According to City Planning, District 4 is divided into 17 neighborhoods: Berlin, La Piñuela, Las Esmeraldas, Campo Valdés, Manrique Central No. 1, San Isidro, Aranjuez, Brasilia, Miranda, San Pedro, Sevilla, Palermo, Bermejal, Los Alamos, Moravia, Jardín Botánico, Parque Norte and Universidad de Antioquia. The last 3 neighborhoods are considered institutional, in the sense that they don’t record population or community organization. These sites are important to the city and the Department of Antioquia due to the educational, cultural and recreational services provided to the general population.300 In Colombia homes are classified in six socioeconomic strata: strata 1 (low-low), 2 (low), 3 (medium-low), 4 (medium), 5 (medium-high), 6 (high). The population of Comuna 4 lives in houses located in socioeconomic strata 1, 2, and 3. It prevails stratum 3: the 59.54 percent live in medium-low stratum.301!

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298 _{Instituto Popular de Capacitación IPC. “Plan de Desarrollo Local Comuna 4 de Medellín, 2008-2015.}

Construyendo territorio con Equidad” (Medellín: n.p., 2008), 18.

299 _{According to the census conducted in 2005, the estimated population for 2013 of the Comuna 4, is}

161,491 inhabitants, and the total population of Medellín is 2'441, 123. See: Censo 2005, Distribución elaborada por convenio entre el DANE y el Municipio de Medellín entre sep 2009 a junio 2010, “Proyecciones de Población Municipio de Medellín por comunas y corregimientos Años 1993, 2005-2015,” accessed October 29, 2013, http://www.medellin.gov.co/

300 _{IPC, “Plan de Desarrollo Local Comuna 4 de Medellín, 2008-2015,” 20.} 301 _Ibid.,21.

In the early 1920s, in what is known today as Aranjuez, there were several large farms that belonged to well-to-do families who took urban planning into their own hands mapped out the neighborhoods and streets; and started selling the land at affordable prices.302 It soon began to be inhabited by middle class people.303 In general, its own inhabitants mostly did the construction of housing and other buildings in this sector.304!

Later, in the mid 1940's and early 1950's, there was another period of urban development, characterized by spontaneous settlements considered illegal by the municipal administration.305 Then a second period of illegal settlement occurred in the 1960s as a result of migration caused by violence in the countryside. As a result, areas such as Moravia, Los Álamos, and Palermo began to be highly populated, overcrowded, and with inadequate infrastructure for education, housing and health and a poor quality of public services.306!

Today, Comuna 4 can be divided into two sectors. The first sector contains the oldest neighborhoods such as Manrique, Campo Valdés, Las Esmeraldas, Miranda, Aranjuez, Berlín, La Piñuela, San Pedro and Sevilla; considered one of the most vital and popular areas of the city, with the highest rate of growth in the first half of the twentieth century.307 The second sector is made up of the neighborhoods that were formed later,

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 302 _{Ibid., 19}

303 _{Bedoya Aguirre, Parmenio A, “Transformaciones y características de la vivienda vernacula en el barrio}

Aranjuez de Medellin a partir de las formas de habitar de sus moradores desde principios del Siglo XX,” (Master diss., Universidad Nacional de Colombia, 2011): 17, accessed October 29, 2013,

http://www.bdigital.unal.edu.co/6841/4/71745275._2012._1.pdf

304 _{Bedoya, “Transformaciones y características de la vivienda vernacula en el barrio Aranjuez de Medellin,”}

17.

305 _{IPC, “Plan de Desarrollo Local Comuna 4 de Medellín, 2008-2015,” 19.} 306 _Ibid.

located parallel to Medellín river and includes Moravia, Los Alamos, Palermo and San Isidro.308!

In 2008, the city administration formally studied Comuna 4, and created a Development Plan for the following eight years, Plan De Desarrollo Comuna 4, (2008- 2015).309 This process was carried out through communal assemblies, with the participation of different actors involved on decision-making and community groups.310 In general, what the studies reported was that although the district is close to the city center, and to basic facilities such as hospitals, supermarkets, drug stores, schools, recreational parks, sports fields, and cultural centers, many of its inhabitants “are still unable to access employment, health, education and culture.”311 The study found that the Quality of Life Index (Índice de Calidad de Vida, ICV)312 and the Human Development Index HDI (Índice de Desarrollo Humano, IDH)313 of the Comuna 4 were below the city’s average rates.314!

The study also found that there was a very high school dropout rate.315 This was thought to be due to family economic constraints, the low quality of education, and a lack

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 308_Ibid.

309 _{The plan is projected to 2015, which includes two periods of Municipal Administration in order to}

"ensure the effective management of the same, as well as its monitoring and evaluation." See: Ibid., 17.

310 _{Ibid., 12.} 311 _{Ibid., 20.}

312 _{The Quality of Life Index of the Comuna 4, in 2006, is 81,71 while Medellín’s Index is 83,77. The study}

also demonstrated that the district’s Quality of Life Index decreased in 2005, and then increased in 2006, while the city’s index was always increasing. This means that while other sectors of the city are increasing the quality of life, the Comuna 4 has stayed behind. See: Ibid., 21.

313 _{In regards with the Human Development Index HDI, the Comuna 4 has a HDI of 73,68 while Medellín}

has a HDI of 80,16. This shows a great difference when compared to the City’s index, which reflects the conditions of inequality that exist in this sector compared to other districts of the city, and the higher levels of investment that this district needs. See: Ibid., 22.

314 _{These indicators where calculated by the Municipality of Medellín, in a survey conducted in 2006. See:}

Ibid., 21-22.

of strategies for monitoring the children and the youth at school.316 Moreover, the study found that there is limited access for young people 18-22 to higher education.317 Public universities do not have enough capacity; and private institutions are inaccessible due to their high cost.318 Paradoxically, although the two public Universities of the city, Universidad de Antioquia and Universidad Nacional, are both close to the Comuna 4, only a very small percentage of its inhabitants attended college.319 !

The report also found that the level of youth unemployment was particularly high. The unemployment rate in the Comuna 4 was 13.72 percent in 2006; higher than the 13.13 percent recorded in Medellin overall.!

The Comuna 4 also presented problems of violence associated with domestic issues, conflicts between neighbors, homicides and crime.320 In 2007, the homicide rate was 10.4 percent, second in the city after La Candelaria with 14.9%.321 Although that the armed political conflict has been greatly reduced in this sector, the report suggested that further research be conducted in order to understand the nature of the conflicts after the negotiations of the government with paramilitary forces, and the efforts of the state to reduce guerilla groups in the city.322 Moreover, drug trafficking is still ever-present in the Comuna 4 (sale and consumption of drugs). In fact there is a high rate of alcoholism and drug addiction.323 Lastly, there is violence caused by street gangs, which seek territorial control. ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 316 _Ibid. 317 _{Ibid., 24.} 318 _{Ibid., 25.} 319 _Ibid. 320 _{Ibid., 44.}

321 _{This statistic was calculated by the Secretary of State in 2007. See: Ibid., 44.} 322 _Ibid.

Finally, an assessment was made with regards to the cultural and recreational sports provisions within the district. The study found that in 2006, there were few opportunities for people to engage in cultural and artistic activities.324 There were not enough spaces to promote culture and scarce encouragement of local artistic groups or individuals with artistic talent.325 Additionally some neighborhoods lacked spaces to practice sports or their sport fields and facilities need improvements. 326

This chapter sets the stage in the city of Medellín in the moment in which youth subcultures emerged, particularly the Hip-hop movement. It shows the different sets of conflicts that exist in the city, and the effects they caused in the daily lives of its inhabitants; for instance the constant sense of fear of going outside and interacting with neighbors, which resulted in the fragmentation of the social fabric. Moreover, a look at the conditions of the Comuna 4 showed that this district lacked spaces for the promotion of culture and encounter. The chapter also discusses the difficulties faced by youth in marginalized neighborhoods, specifically accessing higher education and finding employment; which led many of them to become sicarios (hired killers) or conduct other criminal activities to gain economic stability.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 324 _{Ibid., 51.}

325 _{Ibid., 52.} 326 _{Ibid., 55.}