Usme, Territory of Urban-rural Borders: Three Case Studies

Abstract

This paper focuses on the issue of urban expansion in the southwest of Bogota, where there is a threat to some strategic conservation areas that exist within extensive rural areas that provide food, water, and oxygen. The objective of this paper is to analyze the spatial configuration of three urban-rural edges in the Usme locality from the agent’s perspective. For this purpose, I will focus on three areas of territorial transformation that are characterized by the diversity of land use, spatial patterns of the urban-rural edges, urban area expansion, and social, cultural, patrimonial, and environmental relevance. The methodology consisted of spatial analysis based on the superposition and photointerpretation of aerial images of the three urban-rural edges—(1) Ciudad Usme-Veredas Bajas, (2) Bolonia-Parque Entre Nubes, and (3) Brazuelos-Parque Cantarrana—through Geographical Information Systems. Informal interviews were also conducted with residents of the three urban-rural borders to understand the territorial transformations. This methodology allowed us to identify changes in land use over more than two decades, recorded in three years: 1998, 2011, and 2020. The information obtained is presented in polygons allowing the description, categorization, and comparison of these areas. The paper focuses on the physical description of Usme, the spatial analysis of the three regions, and the main results and conclusions.