DESIGNING A CITY WITH THE RIVER. Principles of urban design from the case of the Tunjuelo river in Bogotá

Abstract

Bogotá is the capital of the second most biodiverse country in the world. However, it presents situations of conflict between its watercourses and its urban environment, which leads to loss of biodiversity and increasing water pollution. The depletion of natural resources due to urban pressures is today one of the fundamental issues to be faced by urban planning. For this, an ecosystem perspective allows us to value urban rivers and their way of interacting with the city. The Tunjuelo River, coming from the Sumapaz Páramo, crosses the south of Bogotá. Its main conditions, exploitation, pollution and channeling, lead us to try to reconcile the relationship between the river and the city through a propositional cartography, which seeks to explain urban design principles derived from their interactions.

Keywords: Water urbanism, urban river, Páramo, Bogotá and Tunjuelo´s river