DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE

ENGINEERING ETHICS

ENGINEERING ETHICS

ASSIGNMENT 2: CASE OF STUDY

CRISTIAN MANUEL CORSO SÁNCHEZ

NEPTUN CODE: W4PILU

Selected case in Bogotá D.C: “Ciudad Norte” neighbourhood, new construction

houses project. The debate between reserved forest areas or growth of the city.
Controversy in Tomas van der Hammen reserve area.

November 25th, 2019

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 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
ENGINEERING ETHICS

TABLE OF CONTENT
Page.

1. CONFLICT CASE CIUDAD PAZ IN BOGOTÁ CITY 3

2. ANALIZING THE CASE 6

2.1 WHO ARE THE AFFECTED PARTIES IN THIS SITUATION? 6

2.2 WHAT INTERESTS DOES EACH PARTY HAVE IN THE SITUATION? WHICH INTEREST ARE IN OCNFLICT? 6

2.3 WERE THE ACTIONS TAKEN BY EACH OF THE AFFECTED PARTIES ACCEPTABLE? IF NOT, ARE THERE
CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH THOSE ACTIONS WOULD HAVE BEEN ACCEPTABLE? WHO SHOULD IMPOSE WHAT
SANCTIONS? 7

2.4 WHAT OTHER COURSES OF ACTION ARE OPEN TO EACH OF THE AFFECTED PARTIES? WHAT IS THE LIKELY
OUTCOME OF EACH COURSE OF ACTION? 7

2.5 FOR EACH PARTY INVOLVED, WHAT COURSE OF ACTION WOULD YOU TAKE, AND WHY? 8

2.6 WHAT ACTIONS COULD HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO AVOID THE CONFLICT? 8

2.7 WHAT CONSEQUENCES FOLLOW FROM THE DIFFERENT ETHICAL VALUES AND ATTITUDES OF THESE
SCHOOLS? 9

3. REFERENCES 9

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 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
ENGINEERING ETHICS

1. CONFLICT CASE CIUDAD PAZ IN BOGOTÁ CITY1

The choice is not ambiguous. Develop at least 85 percent of a patch of preserved land north of
Bogotá or use it to build Latin America’s largest urban forest.
Those diametrically opposed options have opened the largest rift yet between Mayor Enrique
Peñalosa’s administration and his predecessor, former Mayor Gustavo Petro.
At stake is the Thomas van der Hammen Forest Reserve, a nearly 1,400-hectare swath of undeveloped
land on the city’s northern edge.
The term “forest” is perhaps somewhat inaccurate. Most of the land is currently being used as pasture
for cow farmers. But portions of the reserve also contain delicate wetlands and other mountain and
savannah ecosystems that are home to dozens of plant and bird species, as well as other wildlife.

Source: Ed Buckley
Figure 1 - Thomas van der Hammen forest reserve area in Bogotá D.C

1 (Buckley, 2016)

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 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
ENGINEERING ETHICS

Peñalosa’s Plan
Peñalosa has had his eye on the Thomas van der Hammen Reserve ever since his first term as mayor
more than 15 years ago.
He argues that a sustainable development in the reserve is not just possible, but the best way to grow
Bogotá to the north. In other words, the city will continue to grow with or without planning, and it’s
best to build something thoughtful rather than allow chaotic development, according to Peñalosa.
Most of the development in the reserve would be part of a new Peace City (Ciudad Paz) — a planned
urbanization featuring hundreds of thousands of residences, parks, greenways and mass transit
accommodations.
The mayor has said it could eventually house as many as 3 million residents by the year 2056.
Also primary among the mayor’s goals for the reserve is the construction of the Longitudinal West
Avenue (ALO), which would provide a major entrance and exit to the city’s northwest.
Only a handful of major roads handle nearly all the traffic into and out of Bogotá, causing significant
congestion during holidays and even during everyday rush hours. Adding a new route could improve
connectivity in the northern part of the city, suggests Peñalosa.

However, portions of the reserve to be developed are designated as protected by regional

authorities. The district Secretary of the Environment has said that the administration will accept and
respect any legal boundaries to development in those areas.
The mayor’s vision does include some concessions to environmentalists. It sets aside 200 hectares for
greenways connecting the Bogotá River to the west with the hills that border Bogotá to the east. Plans
also call for undeveloped corridors to allow wildlife movement.
And Peñalosa has repeatedly argued that planned development in northern Bogotá will preserve
remaining green space in the surrounding savannah.

Petro’s Plan
Former Mayor Gustavo Petro saw in the Thomas van der Hammen the opportunity to create one of
the city’s most significant green spaces and eventually the largest urban forest in the region.
He proposed to use eminent domain to purchase grazing land from farmers and gain city control
over most of the property before planting native trees and plants in order to restore the forest to its
natural state.
Progress organizing land purchases proceeded too slowly to buy up much of the reserve before the
end of his term, but the administration managed nonetheless to plant more than 20,000 trees in some
portions.
Environmentalists have lauded the plan as a buffer to Bogotá’s urban expansion and a critical natural
environment for the native plant and animal species otherwise displaced by the city.
Bogotá’s Botanical Garden would have handled the reforestation of the reserve.

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 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
ENGINEERING ETHICS

Controversy boils
Since leaving office at the end of last year, Petro has not been shy about expressing his disapproval
of Peñalosa’s decision to take the Thomas van der Hammen in a totally different direction. The former
mayor has taken to Twitter and Facebook, gaining a large and vocal following.
“ thinks biological connectivity is the same as bus lines,” said Petro on Twitter earlier this month.
“Transforming the reserve into urban soil multiplies its value by 30 times. Its owners … will get rich
sacrificing the future of Bogotanos,” he said on Facebook in February. “This type of thinking, with any
citizen support, has life on this planet at the point of disappearing.”
Mayor Peñalosa has continued to defend the plan as necessary to prepare for the city’s future
growth.
“In the next 40 years, Bogotá will have to grow three times as large,” explained Peñalosa in a
statement in January. “Ciudad Paz seeks to organize the capital’s growth in a way that we can have
a city that doesn’t risk harming the savannah.”
He has also questioned whether the reserve deserves to be protected in the first place.
“The reserve is the only in the world that doesn’t have any trees — they’re pastures,” he said.
“Obviously one wants to build forest reserves in every city, but Bogotá’s citizens live today in what was
once forest.”

Next steps
Nothing is going to happen to the Thomas van der Hammen quite yet. Peñalosa’s plan still has to cut
through lots of red tape before any action can be taken, and there’s no guarantee the administration
will get permission from environmental authorities.
The district Ministry of the Environment will first have to submit an official petition to the Cundinamarca
Autonomous Regional Corporation (CAR) requesting that the protected designation for parts of the
reserve be lifted. Peñalosa made a similar request during his first term and was turned down.
If the CAR grants the request, planning could proceed, but there would still be lots of design and
construction permitting required before the first buildings or roads break ground.
That means environmentalists who think Peñalosa’s plan would be a disaster for Bogotá’s open
spaces still have time to fight it. And Peñalosa still has time to convince Bogotanos to buy into Peace
City.
In the meantime, 1,395 hectares hang in the balance.

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 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
ENGINEERING ETHICS

2. ANALIZING THE CASE

2.1 WHO ARE THE AFFECTED PARTIES IN THIS SITUATION?

Base on the information above, the stakeholders list will show around 12 mentioned participants
involved in the Thomas van der Hammen project either local or private interested people, the most
important ones are listed:
• Mayor of Bogotá (Enrique Peñalosa)
• Ministry of the environment
• District secretary of the environment
• Former mayor of Bogotá (Gustavo Petro)
• Environmentalists groups
• Landowners
• Bogotá citizens
• Construction companies

2.2 WHAT INTERESTS DOES EACH PARTY HAVE IN THE SITUATION? WHICH INTEREST ARE IN OCNFLICT?

The Table 1 shows a summary of the most important aspects the the stakeholders are asking for:

Table 1 – Interest of each party for the “Ciudad Paz” project

Stakeholder Need (real)

Enrique Peñalosa Control the way in which the city is growing.

(Mayor of Bogotá Buy farmlands and change the land use.
D.C) Ciudad Paz Project

Control the protection of natural protected

Ministry of the
zones. Vigilance on the agreements
environment
between local and national institutions

Control the way in which the city is growing.

District Secretary of
Representation of the local government.
environment
Ciudad Paz Project.

Gustavo Petro Recover the forest area in the natural

(Former mayor reserve. Bogotá Humana local government
Bogotá D.C) plan

Avoid the construction of any building and

protect the reserve. Keep the greenways
Environmentalist
and the connection between Bogotá river
and the west hills.

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 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
ENGINEERING ETHICS

Stakeholder Need (real)

Increase their incomes by selling pastures

Landowners and private lands. Multiply the value of their
lands

Decided whether to approve or not the

Bogotá citizens construction over natural forest. Active part
of local government control

Construction Development of the area and construction

companies of facilities.

If the Environmental Authority proves that it is not possible to change the use of land to develop
construction activities in the protected area, the mayor's office should desist from its project. In
addition, the economic interests of the construction companies will be finalized, giving priority to the
collective rights of citizens who have the right to clean and clean air and ecologically safe zones.

2.3 WERE THE ACTIONS TAKEN BY EACH OF THE AFFECTED PARTIES ACCEPTABLE? IF NOT, ARE THERE
CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH THOSE ACTIONS WOULD HAVE BEEN ACCEPTABLE? WHO SHOULD
IMPOSE WHAT SANCTIONS?

My opinion goes with the conservation of life and the preservation of natural environments essential
to life in the city. The Mayor's project does not go hand in hand with the idea of conservation to be
adopted worldwide, so all individuals belonging to a single society must fight for common interests
such as life itself. The project in attacking the natural life must be condemned by the legislation of the
corresponding country. Anyone else involved in the project who wants to intervene in an area
already defined as protected should also be punished for omission and for professional misconduct
(in the case of construction engineers). Today's engineer must keep in mind the value of natural life
and adjust his processes and projects around life.

2.4 WHAT OTHER COURSES OF ACTION ARE OPEN TO EACH OF THE AFFECTED PARTIES? WHAT IS THE
LIKELY OUTCOME OF EACH COURSE OF ACTION?

The Natural Reserve Expansion Project simply should not have been proposed, natural areas are
sacred to life, so any type of interest and construction is avoided, and possible legal actions against
those who defend life could be prevented. The panels of experts on sustainable cities agree to
incorporate better plans for territorial development and avoid this type of inconvenience that in the
future could lead to several errors in engineering (geotechnics, structures, project management etc
...).

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 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
ENGINEERING ETHICS

2.5 FOR EACH PARTY INVOLVED, WHAT COURSE OF ACTION WOULD YOU TAKE, AND WHY?

In the Table 2 the main actions taken are showed, as the Project has not yet been developed, the
intervention of an engineering council for the imposition of moral actions has not yet been
pronounced.
Table 2 – Interest of each party for the “Ciudad Paz” project

Stakeholder Action taken

Enrique Peñalosa Investigation by the Attorney General's

(Mayor of Bogotá Office and disciplinary sanction for holding
D.C) public office.

Strengthen its surveillance of public entities

Ministry of the
to control the balance between
environment
infrastructure projects and the environment.

Strengthen its surveillance of public entities

District Secretary of
to control the balance between
environment
infrastructure projects and the environment.

You are advised to form a stronger and

Gustavo Petro
more multidisciplinary team to advise, you
(Former mayor
cannot victimize the engineering guild just
Bogotá D.C)
for a political idea.
Citizen groups must always maintain
constant vigilance in the decisions made to
Environmentalist
the city, true judges to watch over common
interests.
Legal action must be taken for undue
interest and to want to take advantage of a
Landowners
counterproductive situation by taking
individual advantage.
Citizen groups must always maintain
constant vigilance in the decisions made to
Bogotá citizens
the city, true judges to watch over common
interests.

Construction Development of the area and construction

companies of facilities.

2.6 WHAT ACTIONS COULD HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO AVOID THE CONFLICT?
An open dialogue between the different possible affected by the megaproject of construction. Local
authorities from the mayor's office, citizens, environmental groups and even legal authorities should

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 DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
ENGINEERING ETHICS

have had a joint working group to make decisions and promote a much more sustainable project
that does not only benefit the builders and landowners. Personal interests should never take
precedence over collective interests.

2.7 WHAT CONSEQUENCES FOLLOW FROM THE DIFFERENT ETHICAL VALUES AND ATTITUDES OF THESE
SCHOOLS?

Generally, all the opinions of the stakeholders, following mainly the participation of political sectors
which are focus on taking active part of their personal or collective interest. However, the local and
direct affected people are not taking into consideration yet due to the debate that is taking part at
this point, when a positive or negative response from the environmental institutions is taken, the local
participation of the society will start and active and an aggressive opposition to this project, certainly
this is the way the Colombian culture use to act.
The main confrontation is between the actual government leaded by Enrique Peñalosa, on the other
hand the environmentalist groups leaded by the former mayor Gustavo Petro so we can considerer
this debate a political based confrontation. At this stage of analysis of the Ciudad Paz project the
local people are not much interested in taken part of any band, but the idea is still growing sparing
to those who have a future vision of city and consciousness for nature. This is normal worldwide
because people need tangible constructions for thinking and choosing their posture. In my opinion
the direct people involved in the development of the project around the Thomas Van Der Hammen
forest reserve can be classified into two groups: the individualist camp (mayor of the city, builders,
owners of the land, etc.) and the people on the other camp who want a collective benefit for society
by giving a sense of belonging to the values of citizenship, the latter could be reflected in a merely
existentialist action to give meaning to life also with a current of collectivism well marked.

3. REFERENCES

Ángela, P., 2017. La reserva Van der Hammen protege a los bogotanos del cambio climático. UN
Periódico, March, pp. 19-19.
Buckley, E., 2016. Bogotá’s Thomas van der Hammen Reserve debate explained. [Online]
Available at: https://bit.ly/2BpMhLX
[Accessed 14 October 2019].
José, O., 2019. Deutsche Welle. [Online]
Available at: https://bit.ly/2SP8w5f
[Accessed 15 October 2019].
Mejía, D., 2016. Humedales: to build or protect. [Online]
Available at: https://bit.ly/35GBmLP
[Accessed 14 October 2019].

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