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Considering the lack of adequate cycling infrastructure networks in many cities, decision makers must face the challenge of designing connected bicycle facility networks to ensure safe and comfortable access to urban opportunities for cyclists and the usability of infrastructure. This paper addresses the maximal covering bicycle network design problem (MCBNDP). MCBNDP involves making investment decisions to build a cycling network that is aimed at maximizing the coverage of cyclists, while maintaining a minimum total network cost at its minimum. The derived network is subject to a budget limit and accounts for the entire connectivity and directness as fundamental bicycle network design criteria. Cyclists who are located at a given origin are considered covered by the network if a connected path of dedicated cycling infrastructure links them to their desired destination, within a maximum travel distance. We propose a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) formulation, including a two-phase solution approach to solving the MCBNDP. In addition, using a commercial solver, our MILP formulation allows exact solutions to be obtained for large-scale instances with reasonable computing times for these types of problems. This MILP formulation is employed to solve a real instance that is applied to a wide territory of analysis in Medellin city (Colombia). The findings of this paper will contribute to existing literature and support urban policymakers to better spatially allocate the resources and, consequently, maximize the impact of their investments on connected cycling infrastructure networks. Our findings indicate that access to opportunities for cyclists can be easily favored by making small improvements to the existing infrastructure to guarantee safe, direct, and comfortable cycling infrastructure. Because we specify a maximum travel distance rather than a shortest path limitation, our problem ensures that cyclists may have several possibilities for their routes, which may go along the shortest path or any other alternative, however, without exceeding the maximum travel distance. In this direction, our findings confirm that prioritizing coverage, while accounting for full network connectivity, will benefit more cyclists because of the flexible configuration of the new network, which also may ensure its usability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After being known as the ‘murder capital of the world’ in the 1990s, Medellin has pioneered innovative forms of city planning and management and was acclaimed the most innovative city in the world by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) in 2013. Hosting the World Urban Forum in 2014 allowed it to showcase its approach, key elements of which have been: creation of innovative transport infrastructure linking poorer peripheral districts to the city centre; culture-led regeneration; strong support of local development from the local business sector; and a successful municipally-owned utilities company. However, the city is spreading outwards without services and employment being provided; new low-income developments are replicating high-rise models which failed worldwide; there is limited intervention in the existing informal areas, many being in highly vulnerable locations where the level of risk is likely to increase with climate change; development has little regard for topography, ecological and environmental considerations; investment in accessible and good quality public space is restricted to some areas; the quality of the public realm does not always support health and wellbeing of the ageing population. This paper explores the institutional and socio-economic context in which Medellín has achieved the internationally recognized status of an ‘innovative city’. It questions to what extent social equity, environmental sustainability and citizen empowerment have been promoted as per the ULI claims when it conferred the prize. The paper queries the extent to which ‘urban innovation’ is happening in Medellín, which has considerable implications given its recently found role as a ‘model’ city in Latin America and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years the literature on mobility of care has rapidly expanded, and the concept offers a powerful lens to highlight how everyday mobilities are organised, undertaken, and experienced in gendered ways. The concept can nonetheless benefit from further theoretical development. In this paper we enrich the mobility of care concept by drawing on influential conceptualisations of care from feminist theory and analysis of data collected during the COVID-19 lockdown among a group of 40 low-income women living in peri-urban areas of Itagüí, a municipality in the south of the Medellín metropolitan area, Colombia. Through this approach we first argue that relying on a taxonomy of trip purposes limits the understanding of the role of care in urban mobilities and risks underestimating the prevalence of mobility of care. Second, we suggest that activities of self-care also generate mobility of care and that their consideration allows practices and experiences of receiving care to be considered. Finally, we show how care activities are part of, and generate, intertwined mobilities and immobilities, and argue that rendering visible the full extent of mobilities of care demands that careful consideration be given to immobilities as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An exposure model is a key component for assessing potential human and economic losses from natural disasters. An exposure model consists of a spatially disaggregated description of the infrastructure and population of a region under study. Depending on the size of the settlement area, developing such models can be a costly and time-consuming task. In this paper we use a manually annotated dataset consisting of approximately 10,000 photos acquired at street level in the urban area of Medellín to explore the potential for using a convolutional neural network (CNN) to automatically detect building materials and types of lateral-load resisting systems, which are attributes that define a building's structural typology (which is a key issue in exposure models for seismic risk assessment). The results of the developed model achieved a precision of 93% and a recall of 95% when identifying nonductile buildings, which are the buildings most likely to be damaged in an earthquake. Identifying fine-grained material typology is more difficult, because many visual clues are physically hidden, but our model matches expert level performances, achieving a recall of 85% and accuracy scores ranging from 60% to 82% on the three most common building typologies, which account for 91% of the total building population in Medellín. Overall, this study shows that a CNN can make a substantial contribution to developing cost-effective exposure models. • We use a convolutional neural network to detect building typologies. • Our model is a major contribution to developing cost-effective exposure models. • The model has a precision and recall above 93% when detecting nonductile buildings. • This paper uses a dataset of about 10,000 photos manually annotated by experts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using modeling techniques as Ordinary Least Squares-OLS, this paper studies the main variables that affect service trip generation (STG) (production and attraction) by the service sector (e.g., maintenance, repairs) in commercial establishments located in urban areas of developing countries. Data obtained from Medellin Metropolitan Area (Colombia) origin–destination freight surveys conducted in 2017–2018 were used to analyze service trips for the first time in the region. This helped determine the number of produced and attracted service trips, average duration per service, most used modes of transport in service trips, and other characteristics that improve the understanding of how service trips work in urban areas This information might help in analyses of variables that mainly influence STG. To this effect, the authors estimated more than 30 service trip production and attraction models for establishments; these models depend on independent variables, such as employment, and establishment's area. Finally, the freight community will benefit from these models because transport planners would analyze service trips as part of the freight and service activities in urban areas to contribute to improve the mobility using the models to plan better the transportation in the areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Market segmentation is useful for formulating adequate, sustainable mobility policies. • Segmentation should consider individual differences in attitudes and perceptions. • We identified three groups: Traditionalists, Green Conscious and All Matters. • We proposed sustainable strategies considering the heterogeneities of each group. This paper draws attention to the need for formulating tailored, sustainable transport policies considering heterogeneity in the population regarding their preferences and attitudes. In this regard, we propose a market segmentation for incentivising sustainable transport policies. Our analysis builds from the responses of 1,041 car owners towards environmentally friendly transport alternatives in a survey issued in the five largest Colombian metropolitan areas: Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Barranquilla, and Bucaramanga. Using the collected data, we estimated a Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes (MIMIC) model to evaluate individual attitudes towards the environment, green transport policies, car use, and technology. A cluster analysis based on the MIMIC results identified three groups: Traditionalists, Green Conscious and All Matters. Results make the contradiction between car attachment and environmental concern evident. The lower the environmental concern, the higher the attachment to the car. However, the differences between Traditionalists and All Matters are less pronounced. Finally, we proposed sustainable strategies considering the heterogeneities of each group, analysed the implications of developing custom-made actions and marketing strategies for promoting sustainable transport policies, considering the interests and characteristics of each targeted group in the population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Education for sustainable development in universities provides the university's community (i.e. students, administrative and academic staff) with the skills and capabilities needed to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development. Education for sustainable development has been introduced into curricula, research, outreach activities and campus operations. Several tools exist nowadays to assess this incorporation. Most of them are focused on the environmental aspect of campus operations and within academic issues but do not consider the entire system. This research aimed to propose an integration of sustainability throughout the university as a system, considering existing tools and frameworks, and proving the theoretical proposal in an empirical context. Thus, this paper focuses on sustainability from a whole-institution perspective, analysing the university as a system conformed of two subsystems, the academic and the administrative. The research used a sequential, mixed-method. The quantitative phase undertook a literature review using bibliometric and content analysis, followed by a qualitative phase using the thematic analysis method to develop the University Sustainability concept. The University Sustainability analysis integrated education for sustainable development aspects for the academic subsystem and the corporate sustainability paradigm for the administrative subsystem. Consequently, a sustainability measurement scale for the University Sustainability concept was developed and proved using the exploratory factor analysis. The survey was applied to directors, academic and administrative staff, and under and post-graduate students of two private universities located in Medellin, Colombia. A total of 1799 useable responses were collected and analysed with SPSS software. The analysis' outcome exposed all factors loaded above 0.40, and overall, the alpha coefficient was 0.930. Results revealed the reliability and validity of the instrument. Hence, the University Sustainability concept was validated, and its measurement scale is suitable to be used in assessing the sustainability of universities holistically. The evidence from the studied universities shows the relevance of corporate sustainability and social issues in the developed University Sustainability concept. • University sustainability considered the academic and administrative subsystems. • Administrative subsystem was highly related with corporate sustainability. • Academic subsystem embraced education for sustainable development in higher education. • High reliability measurement scale assesses holistically sustainability in universities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyse whether the Colombian government's classification of households into socio-economic strata accurately reflects the level of quality of life of households in Medellin. To this end, logit multilevel models and a novel graphic analysis were used. Our findings suggest that the stratification criteria currently used in Medellin should be revised. The socio-economic strata, which only considers the characteristics of the dwellings, streets and surrounding areas, explain approximately one tenth of the variability in self-reported quality of life. When other economic and non-economic factors are considered, a different strata ranking for guiding public policies than that used in Medellin was estimated. Neighbourhood safety and personal safety are key drivers of quality of life, whereas higher consumption expenditure is most effective in the most disadvantaged strata. • Socio-economic strata explain 10.26% of variability in self-reported quality of life. • The current strata ranking does not adequately reflect citizens' quality of life. • Neighbourhood safety and personal safety are key drivers of quality of life. • Higher consumption expenditure is most effective in the most disadvantaged strata. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The circulation of ideas about 'best practices' and policies shape multi-scalar governance networks. This paper examines the role of the international press, both as an actor and as a medium for the circulation of urban planning models. We aim to deepen the theoretical notions on the role of media, particularly the written press, in building narratives of 'urban models', and their circulation in other contexts. And second, by extending the reaches of multi-sited ethnography as the main methodological approach to follow policy mobility. This research monitored, and analysed news items published about Medellín on the digital editions of several newspapers across the globe between 2004 and 2017. The resulting examination shows, firstly, how the changes of the image of the city has been portrayed over time, with a growth of news items highlighting Medellín's urban model as an inspirational source for other cities in the world. Secondly, the research shows the importance of international media for building a particular storytelling about urban transformations. We argue that newspapers constitute a key informational infrastructure for urban policy mobility contributing to amplify mythical narratives of 'urban models' and to institute new metrics of good governance. • Newspapers constitute a key informational infrastructure for urban policy mobility. • Digital press contributes to amplify mythical narratives of 'urban models'. • Media contributed for building a storytelling about Medellín's urban transformation. • Main narratives about Medellín: the 'violent city' and the 'city in transformation'. • Positive news and international press interest become new good governance metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]