Settling with Waters. A Landscape Urbanism Investigation in the Sabana de Bogotá

In Bogotá, as in other Latin-American cities, housing demand is increasing daily, while the overall housing shortage remains an unresolved problem. Hence, flood prone areas along the Bogotá river are more and more under urbanization pressure, amongst others by low-cost housing projects, while these areas simultaneously are required in view of flooding, which promise to increase with the predictions of climate change. The dissertation “Settling with Waters. A Landscape Urbanism Investigation in the Sabana de Bogotá” investigates how the current contested relations between water, settlement and productive landscapes can be turned into a constructive interplay? The research develops cross-scalar tools for adaptation and mitigation in view of climate change and to provide solutions for the ever-increasing urbanization demands. 

The thesis applies research by design. A number of steps were taken in the dissertation. Parallel work was completed to build an atlas of the territory that consists primarily of visual material with extended captions. A literature review and archival study/data collection was complemented by fieldwork which allowed for the creation of interpretative mapping in plan and section. Ultimately, the research hypothesis was tested by research by design. Two case studies were executed. A first approach to the cross-scalar design strategies and concepts were developed through two international design workshops and three master thesis. 

The atlas constructs a visual narrative that illustrates the complexity of the landscape in the Sabana de Bogotá to later test the potential of the hydrological structures to support the structure of the city.  The atlas is divided in five chapters. 

Chapter 1 presents the problem statement and the major challenges regarding climate change and urbanization in the region. 

Chapter 2 analyses the relationship between water and settlement development in four periods: pre-Hispanic, colonial, modern and contemporary. Water is the main landscape element of the Sabana de Bogotá but nowadays it has been place out of sight. The mapping exercise reveals this changing and complex relationship and how it has progressively shaped and reshaped the landscape. 

Chapter 3 evaluates the contemporary conditions and urban dynamics of the Sabana de Bogotá. 

Chapter 4 presents landscape based design strategies and new housing typologies that simultaneously address water management and social housing issues. It reflects on the notion of “Settling with Waters” as an alternative to unsustainable models of urbanization. In order to increase landscape resilience in the Sabana de Bogotá urban tissues should recreate the “sponge” condition of the floodplain. The landscape typologies developed in this thesis reconstruct this condition in two sections that cover typical variations of the floodplain in terms of geomorphology and housing production. 

Chapter 5 discusses the main findings. It evaluates the performance of the proposed water system for each site in relation to the hydrologic and hydraulic functioning of the Bogotá River watershed. It also discusses the challenges for the implementation of the design strategies considering the specific planning framework of the region. And finally it discusses how the design strategies could be integrated with other urban agendas, for instance mobility and social infrastructure. 

Through this thesis, “Settling” is understood as “establishing a permanent place”, “reaching an agreement” or “dealing with”. These variation of meanings is translated in design concepts to deal with spatial issues of water and settlement. Settling resonates with inscribing oneself in an environment, caving in, descend, settling down, which correspond to a vertical operation. This also explains the selection of the section as an instrument in this design explorations as the section allows much more to understand and visualize the position of a place within the water cycle, to negotiate between water and land, and to define topographical manipulations that respond to the specific site conditions (soils, water table, and vegetation) creating safe-levels for housing and infrastructure. 

The case studies elaborated a water structure that solves qualitative and quantitative water issues while delivering a spatial framework for new housing fabrics. In the first case, the one of Funza & Mosquera, “Settling with Waters” relied on the recognition of the fine-grain irrigation network and how it could simultaneously become the parcellation system for both innovative agricultural economies and housing typologies that work with the ebbs and flows of the rivers water levels. Settling, is taken as to settle, to inhabit and live on and from the Waters.  In the second case, the one of Funza, “Settling with Waters” implied to create enough room for the extreme changes that are associated with the river’s dynamics (which will be exacerbated by climate change), while at the same time creating housing and public amenities that work with the dynamics. Settling, is taken as to come to agreement with, to settle a claim between things, with the Waters. 

“Settling with Waters” tests the possibility of alternatives to contemporary water management, productive landscapes and housing paradigms through two case studies.