Business > Columns
The Brilliance Of Bogota
The Entrepreneur
By Marc Kramer, For The Bulletin
This past week, I was at the Wharton School of Business Latin America Conference in Bogota, Colombia. For those of you who think Colombia is like the early 1990s Harrison Ford movie “Clear and Present Danger,” where drug dealers are running around shooting politicians and where paramilitaries are overrunning the country, you would be surprised to find a moderately safe, growing country.
My hotel and the restaurants I ate in were full of Asian and European businesspeople trying to get contracts for infrastructure improvement. The Colombians have a president who is considered one of the best leaders in the world. There banking system is solid, NOT highly leveraged, interest rates are reasonable and Colombians are very optimistic.
Wanting to make Bogota a first-rate city that could be the economic engine of the country, Enrique Peñalosa, who is one of the most charismatic leaders one will ever see, was mayor of Bogota from 1997 to 2000 (they only have three-year terms) and set three audacious goals.
First, he wanted to alleviate traffic congestion in a city the size of the Philadelphia metropolitan area. He came to the conclusion that building more highways only encouraged more people to drive, which increased pollution that was trapped in the valley Bogota sits up in the Andean mountains. The pollution was strangling the population as people would be forced to wear masks in public.
Second, since less than 30 percent of the population owned cars, and sidewalks were almost nonexistent, he wanted to create an environment where people could walk to wherever they needed to go without fear of being run over.
Third, the number of murders was at a stunningly high 86 per thousand. Crime was so bad that people were being blown apart with grenades two blocks from the presidential palace and their version of Capitol Hill. He wanted to make a vast reduction in murders so citizens would be safer and foreign companies would consider using Colombia as a launch pad for South America.
The mayor set in motion and accomplished three things that Philadelphia should consider emulating.
First, he reduced rather than increased the number of roads. In their place are set up beautiful business lanes that can take you all over the city.
Second, he built bicycle paths throughout the city so people could ride to work. You actually see people in suits or carrying backpacks with their clothes as they ride to work. As a bicyclist, I can tell you that I much prefer the exercise and enjoyment of riding than fighting the traffic on Routes 202 or 95 or fighting my way through the Schuylkill Expressway. Unlike with our buses, which also fight cars, the lanes there are reserved for public buses. They also have a train and subway system.
Third, through government purchases of private property, the city bought and/or tore down slums and built beautiful parks and huge walkways so people could enjoy the outdoors. There are lights on all night for kids to play soccer instead of trying to figure out where to hang and getting in trouble.
One thing you notice is that people are thinner and in better shape. It is rare to see an overweight person. From talking to businesspeople, their perception of Bogota and Colombia is a creative, hard-working entrepreneurial society. Money is flowing in from the Middle East and China to take advantage of the oldest continuous Democracy in Latin America.
All of this happened at a time when the country was fighting for its survival. Business leaders used to ride in armor-plated caravans of cars with armies of bodyguards, which you don’t see today.
I would urge Mayor Nutter and City Council to take a trip to Bogota to see how they handled their traffic problems and turned their city into an economic driver.
Marc Kramer, who is the author of five books and project faculty at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, is a serial entrepreneur.
My hotel and the restaurants I ate in were full of Asian and European businesspeople trying to get contracts for infrastructure improvement. The Colombians have a president who is considered one of the best leaders in the world. There banking system is solid, NOT highly leveraged, interest rates are reasonable and Colombians are very optimistic.
Wanting to make Bogota a first-rate city that could be the economic engine of the country, Enrique Peñalosa, who is one of the most charismatic leaders one will ever see, was mayor of Bogota from 1997 to 2000 (they only have three-year terms) and set three audacious goals.
First, he wanted to alleviate traffic congestion in a city the size of the Philadelphia metropolitan area. He came to the conclusion that building more highways only encouraged more people to drive, which increased pollution that was trapped in the valley Bogota sits up in the Andean mountains. The pollution was strangling the population as people would be forced to wear masks in public.
Second, since less than 30 percent of the population owned cars, and sidewalks were almost nonexistent, he wanted to create an environment where people could walk to wherever they needed to go without fear of being run over.
Third, the number of murders was at a stunningly high 86 per thousand. Crime was so bad that people were being blown apart with grenades two blocks from the presidential palace and their version of Capitol Hill. He wanted to make a vast reduction in murders so citizens would be safer and foreign companies would consider using Colombia as a launch pad for South America.
The mayor set in motion and accomplished three things that Philadelphia should consider emulating.
First, he reduced rather than increased the number of roads. In their place are set up beautiful business lanes that can take you all over the city.
Second, he built bicycle paths throughout the city so people could ride to work. You actually see people in suits or carrying backpacks with their clothes as they ride to work. As a bicyclist, I can tell you that I much prefer the exercise and enjoyment of riding than fighting the traffic on Routes 202 or 95 or fighting my way through the Schuylkill Expressway. Unlike with our buses, which also fight cars, the lanes there are reserved for public buses. They also have a train and subway system.
Third, through government purchases of private property, the city bought and/or tore down slums and built beautiful parks and huge walkways so people could enjoy the outdoors. There are lights on all night for kids to play soccer instead of trying to figure out where to hang and getting in trouble.
One thing you notice is that people are thinner and in better shape. It is rare to see an overweight person. From talking to businesspeople, their perception of Bogota and Colombia is a creative, hard-working entrepreneurial society. Money is flowing in from the Middle East and China to take advantage of the oldest continuous Democracy in Latin America.
All of this happened at a time when the country was fighting for its survival. Business leaders used to ride in armor-plated caravans of cars with armies of bodyguards, which you don’t see today.
I would urge Mayor Nutter and City Council to take a trip to Bogota to see how they handled their traffic problems and turned their city into an economic driver.
Marc Kramer, who is the author of five books and project faculty at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, is a serial entrepreneur.
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