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Cities on Speed

Improving Civic Behavior - Bogota (Andreas Dalsgaard - Danish Film Institute)

  • 23 January 2018
  • Posted by: Nicolas Devia
  • Number of views: 1619
  • 0 Comments

The constant decline of Bogota's rate of homicides and violent deaths during the late 90's and the beginning of the new millennium has its roots in an unconventional practice: mimes, soccer cards, balloons and an unorthodox Mayor wearing a super-hero costume. An innovative experiment on governance shows the effectiveness of approaching the citizens in a pedagogic, familiar and enjoyable way, improving the lives of the citizens regardless of their economic capacities. Rather than approaching the problem of violence with a zero-tolerance style of policies, Bogota invented a new sort of Community policing without the need for the police. By teaching tolerance, respect of law, empathy and patience to the citizens, Bogota created an atmosphere of trust and rejection of incivilities, which led then to a reduction of violence and crime. This case sheds light and guidance to another way of approaching the problem of violence in the Americas that truly deserves to be revisited.

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