Tranvía municipal y dinámica urbana de Bogotá, 1910 – 1929: una mirada desde el tranvía al desarrollo físico e institucional de Bogotá

Abstract

In the first decades of the twentieth century Bogotá began a process of physical and administrative changes that differed substantially with the trends of the nineteenth century city. The research that is presented seeks to follow the traces and synthesize this urban experience from the municipal tramway. It is tried to evaluate this means of transport as one of the main structuring elements that characterized both the spatial functioning and the socio-political dynamics of the city. The tram of private origin became public company in 1910, consequence of a great citizen movement that pressed its purchase to the North American company The Bogota City Railway Company, becoming the first public utility of property of the city. This situation that initially put the municipal government in front of two major challenges: the first achieving $ 800,000 gold equivalent to 7.5% of the national budget calculated for the date at $ 10,651,500 and the second the way to administer it, generated two large contributions to Bogotá, the first: a company that represented about 42% of the municipal budget with yields between 45% and 55% that served as support for the administrative and financial development of other companies in the municipality and the second: the management model of Services of the city through public and private meetings.