Feature

Local Economy
2020, Vol. 35(5) 419–439
Ruta N, an island of innovation ! The Author(s) 2020

in Medell
ın’s downtown
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DOI: 10.1177/0269094220961054
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Lehyton Arenas and Miguel Atienza

Universidad Cat

olica del Norte, Chile

Jos

e Francisco Vergara Perucich
Universidad de las Am
ericas, Chile

Abstract
This article discusses the contribution of innovation centres in nearby neighbourhoods based on
primary data. This paper involves the study of the case of Ruta N in Medell
ın to expose the
relationship between a consolidated neighbourhood and new innovation facilities. Ruta N was
founded after the implementation of a city-level policy for innovation intended to secure the
economic growth of a former deprived area of the city. This innovation attracted local and inter-
national creative entrepreneurs to Medell
ın’s downtown but with inconsistent results. The analysis
revealed that Ruta N rarely interacts with the nearby neighbourhood, thus restricting its potential
to contribute to the community. Instead, it is perceived that Ruta N takes advantage of the
neighbourhood to meet the needs of Ruta N users, not the other way around. As a result, com-
munity members argue that Ruta N could promote potential conflicts in the area.

Keywords
grounded theory, Innovation District, Medell
ın, urban development, urban regeneration

Introduction
Today’s knowledge-based economy has had
growing repercussions on cities by turning
them from centres of production into
centres of knowledge and consumption.
This transformation has been reflected in
urban development strategies based on the
creation of spaces in which knowledge can
be exchanged and by which innovations
aimed at reviving cities can be developed
(Knight, 1995). In recent decades, urban
development strategies have been con-
structed with a focus on amenities (Glaeser
et al., 2001), creativity (Florida, 2002;
Landry, 2012; Scott, 2006), innovation
Corresponding author:
Lehyton Arenas, Departamento de Econom
ıa, Instituto de
Econom
ıa Aplicada Regional (IDEAR), Universidad
Cat

olica del Norte, Avenida Angamos 0610, Antofagasta,
Chile.
Email: lehyton.arenas@ucn.cl
420
districts (Clark et al., 2010; Katz and
Wagner, 2014), and technology parks
(Castells and Hall, 2014).
Most development proposals have been
designed at the city level. These proposals
typically neglect any potential consequences
that they may impose on other areas within
the city. Urban researchers have analysed
this trend, highlighting specific issues, such
as socioeconomic polarisation (Florida,
2017; Haase et al., 2010), gentrification
(Hutton, 2004; Slater, 2006; Vanolo, 2008),
a lack of local community participation
(Marrero Guillam
on, 2003), and a loss of
neighbourhood identity (Pope, 2002).
The concept of urban renewal is often
confused with terms such as urban renova-
tion, resurgence, or revitalisation (Sevilla
et al., 2014). Generally, it can refer to two
sets of policies: on the one hand, those
intended to resolve problems in specific
areas of a city (e.g. depopulation, ageing,
decaying physical infrastructure) (Haase
et al., 2010); and, on the other hand, the
set of local policies whose objective is the
economic recovery of the city (Hyra, 2012;
Sevilla et al., 2014). According to this
second perspective, which is adopted in
this study, urban renewal seeks to attract
private capital through local interventions
funded by public budgets (Benach, 2000;
Zipp, 2013). Likewise, actions to improve
the image of the city are thought to be
vital to incentivising private investment.
Such actions are considered an advantage
in the context of interurban competition.
According to Benach (2000), the efforts
of several European cities performed to
gain a competitive foothold have character-
ised the implementation of urban renewal
strategies. Such strategies include the
restructuring of traditional industrial sec-
tors (e.g. Rotterdam and Glasgow), the
development of high-tech industries (e.g.
Montpellier and Valencia), and the devel-
opment of prestigious urban regeneration
projects (e.g. Barcelona and Lisbon). City
Local Economy 35(5)
planning and management strategies have
to change to adopt the demands of urban
competitiveness. Additional changes are
required to improve the image of physical
spaces which serve as points of reference for
the city. Urban renewal strategies focus on
revitalising and expanding strategic (and,
sometimes, degraded) areas to give their
populations increased purchasing power
(Hyra, 2012). Sometimes, specific social
groups, such as artists and intellectuals,
are the intended beneficiaries of these strat-
egies (Benach, 2000; Florida, 2002) because
these groups are expected to promote local
economies.
Despite the broad application of urban
planning strategies, some authors assert
that these strategies turn cities into commod-
ities. Communities can be seen as saleable
products flowing through the global
market, and this view can lead to the promo-
tion of economic efficiency over social needs
(Casellas, 2006; Cuenya and Corral, 2011;
Marrero Guillam
on, 2003). Additionally,
when the aim of these policies is to renew
urban centres, they can produce a frag-
mented image of the city (Haase et al.,
2010). Strategies to promote urban renewal
based on spaces for technology and innova-
tion are often referred to as innovation dis-
tricts, new economic industrial clusters, or
high-tech creative districts, and the perceived
purposes of such spaces are to harness the
transformational power of technological
innovation and to turn cities into intention-
ally competitive capitals of knowledge
(Morisson and Bevilacqua, 2019). These
areas are not immune to the environmental
and social impacts of the changes brought on
by urban development strategies. A balance
must be struck between preserving the exist-
ing heritage and reconfiguring the image of
the metropolitan nucleus. The most notable
results of an imbalance are the conflict
and tension associated with the insertion of
new industries and social groups into the
city centre, as they often translate into
Arenas et al.
a fear of displacement among residents
(Hutton, 2004).
According to Pope (2002), the new high-
tech creative districts of Belltown (Seattle)
and Yaletown (Vancouver) changed the
centres of these cities, transforming them
from industrial cities to postmodern
ones. This transformation, however, led to
tensions associated with gentrification,
socioeconomic polarisation, demographic
changes, and the loss of neighbourhood
identity. Carroll (2014) exposes the dissatis-
faction of the community of Oakland, San
Francisco, with the presence of one of
Google’s campuses that was blamed for
increasing prices in the area and displacing
the disadvantaged population, as well as
using its influence to bend the rules to its
favour and worsening inequality. Even the
case of the 22@ District – which is a vital
symbol of the economic revitalisation of
Barcelona and a model for growth and
urban renewal in European and American
cities (Casellas, 2006) – has endured signif-
icant opposition that has revolved around
three points (Marrero Guillam
on, 2003): (i)
the decision-making process, which lacks
citizen participation; (ii) the types of build-
ings proposed, as their architectural models
are considered hostile to the existing heri-
tage, thus increasing the latent fear of pos-
sible gentrification; and (iii) social costs
such as those paid by local businesses.
This final grievance is particularly related
to the arrival of commercial centres that
could destroy small, neighbourhood-level
commerce.
The interactions that these projects have
with the neighbourhood in which they are
built are central elements of their success.
This is because the neighbourhood may
provide essential services, both to residents
and workers in the technological district,
thus bringing the district’s streets and
public spaces to life and inviting people to
buy from businesses within the district
(Katz and Wagner, 2014). Moreover,
421
innovation districts may reduce the tensions
that have arisen in many communities
by advocating innovative and inclusive
growth through opportunities for neigh-
bourhood revitalisation via the transforma-
tion of urban facilities, quality employment
opportunities, and chances for local
entrepreneurship.
Analyses of these types of strategies based
on knowledge economy and its relationship
with the neighbourhood have predominantly
considered their implementation in devel-
oped countries. In this sense little consider-
ation related to knowledge-based economies
has been paid to the Latin American urban
areas. Nevertheless, these cities do not
escape from the strong social challenges
related to its own growth and modernisation
(Garcia-Ayllon, 2016).
From this perspective, the transforma-
tion of the city of Medell
ın, Colombia is a
singular case and perhaps a notable excep-
tion. The so-called Medell
ın Model has
been recognised internationally (Restrepo,
2014) and has received awards such as the
prize for the most innovative city in the
world in 2013.1 This model is a remarkable
success story which has recently been the
subject of many scholarly and non-academ-
ic analyses. However, many of these works
come to the conclusion that the city’s devel-
opment is still far away from a real ‘miracle’
based on introduction of the ‘right’ institu-
tional structures and ‘good’ governance
reforms (Franz, 2018). In fact, the condi-
tions in developed countries differ signifi-
cantly from those in Medell
ın, which has
become a point of reference in the develop-
ing world. To delve into this controversy,
we have formulated a substantive theory
that tends to support Peck’s (2005) criti-
cism, for whom urban creativity strategies
have quickly become preferred, despite
working in silence with existing ‘neoliberal’
development agendas framed by interurban
competition, gentrification, and the com-
mercialisation of places. A fundamental
422
part of the Medell
ın urban regeneration has
been its urban competitiveness agenda. This
agenda seeks to transform spaces of the city
to enhance the performance of private busi-
nesses (Brand, 2010; Dávila, 2012). The
Ruta N Complex is the epicentre of
Medell
ın’s Innovation District and the
engine of technological entrepreneurialism
in the city. The objective of the present
study is to understand how the Ruta N
Complex affects the surrounding neigh-
bourhood, which is known as Medell
ın’s
Innovation District. We explored the way
in which this intervention – oriented
towards city-level economic growth –
affects nearby areas and whether it indirect-
ly promotes urban renewal.
According to Katz and Wagner (2014),
the Medell
ın Innovation District fosters
local innovative talent and innovations
developed by disadvantaged people, thus
giving these people access to recent technol-
ogy. Morisson and Bevilacqua (2019) point
out that the district has implemented
Figure 1. Location of Medell
ın within Antioquia and Colombia. Source: Authors.
Local Economy 35(5)
programmes to reduce the cognitive gap
between residents and workers and mitigate
the negative consequences of the urban
renewal policy. However, none of these
works explores in depth the effects of this
urban renewal policy on the nearby neigh-
bourhood. Performing such an exploration
is the main contribution of the present work.
The rest of this document is organised as
follows: First, the case study is described.
This is followed by a description of the
research methodology. In the third section,
the main findings of our substantive theory
are provided. In the fourth section, we dis-
cuss the results. Finally, we present the
conclusions.
Case study
The renewal of Medell
ın
Medell
ın is the capital of the Colombian
department of Antioquia (see Figure 1)
and the second most populous city in the
Arenas et al.
country (Departamento Administrativo
Nacional de Estad
ıstica (DANE, 2010)). It
is also the economic and demographic core
of the Valle de Aburrá Metropolitan Area,
an administrative entity made up of the
conurbation of nine municipalities within
the same department. Medell
ın is the
municipality with the greatest demographic
weight within the conurbation, with around
2.5 million inhabitants out of the almost
four million that constitute the metropoli-
tan area (DANE, 2011), and has become a
point of reference among Latin American
cities, due to its transformation within a
relatively short period of time.
At the end of the 20th century, Medell
ın
was involved in a deep socioeconomic crisis
that caused it to become one of the most
dangerous and violent cities in the world
(Sánchez, 2012). However, Medell
ın
became an example of urban success in
Colombia, as its socioeconomic indicators
recovered. According to Alcald
ıa de
Medell
ın (2016), the city achieved a historic
decrease in homicide rate per 100,000
inhabitants in 2016, from 321.8 to 20.1. In
recent years, healthcare provision has been
extended to over 50,000 people living in sit-
uation of social disadvantage. The city has
also implemented strategies to promote
quality education by providing economic
incentives for students from disadvantaged
backgrounds who achieve higher levels of
education. Besides, between 2003 and 2014
growth of Medell
ın’s per capita gross
domestic product largely surpassed the
average growth rate of Colombia’s econo-
my (Franz, 2018).
The overarching goal of the city is to
become a sustainable, economical, safe,
and efficient system. Two main approaches
have been fundamental in this process of
urban transformation:
• First, the well-known concept of social
urbanism understood as the set of inter-
ventions undertaken as defined urban
423
projects in the most vulnerable areas of
the city (Brand, 2010) and manifested in
the implementation of integrated urban
projects (Ram
ırez and Kapstein, 2016).
In 2004, the city introduced a public
policy focused on reducing the extensive
social debt that it had accumulated over
multiple decades. This policy has also led
to the implementation of structural
transformations that combine education,
cultural, and entrepreneurship pro-
grammes with the renewal of infrastruc-
ture (primarily transport) in some
neighbourhoods located in critical zones
of the city (Dávila, 2012; McGuirk,
2014). Social urbanism is considered to
be essential to urban change, as it pro-
motes inclusion, social development
(Echeverri and Orsini, 2011; Turok,
2014), urban integration, growth of
domestic and international tourism
(Brand, 2010), improvements to urban
spaces and facilities, the construction of
housing with public resources, the crea-
tion of jobs for the surrounding popula-
tion, increases in household income, and
improvements to overall wellbeing
(Brand, 2013; Dávila, 2012).
• Second, the urban management of the
city also entails an urban planning
agenda focused on competitiveness
which seeks to create spaces for private
businesses (Brand, 2010; Dávila, 2012;
Turok, 2014). The process of urban man-
agement for the centre of Medell
ın (the
so-called New North of the city) consists
of a set of local projects with the aim to
form a competitive metropolitan area
(Morales Ram
ırez, 2009). A central com-
ponent of the urban management of
Medell
ın is the Ruta N Complex. This
complex is the architectural expression
of Medell
ın’s aspirations to promote
itself as a city of creativity, knowledge,
and innovation (Duque Franco, 2015).
According to Sánchez (2012), the crea-
tion of the Ruta N Corporation was
424
fundamental to the shift in the city’s eco-
nomic outlook, as Medell
ın decided to
base its development on the generation
of knowledge. The purpose of developing
in this manner was to diversify the city’s
economic structure instead of emphasis-
ing the region’s traditional manufactur-
ing industry.
Although Ruta N has a productive
scope, since its inception, it has also
declared a commitment to urban renewal.
This aspect of Ruta N has received little
attention in most analyses.
The Ruta N Corporation
The Ruta N Corporation is a not-for-profit
entity which provides several municipal
resources to support science, technology,
and innovation. The Ruta N Corporation
also seeks to promote the development of
innovative, technology-based businesses
that increase the competitiveness of the
city, stimulate the economy, strengthen the
city’s clusters, and provide better jobs for
the citizens of Medell
ın (Corporaci
on
Ruta N, 2012). As stated by Corporaci
on
Ruta N (2018), the city invests 2.14% of its
economy in science, technology and innova-
tion activities, representing a value of $1.2
billion Colombian pesos, that is approxi-
mately $408 million dollars.2
According to Corporaci
on Ruta N’s
(2011) Management Report, the corpora-
tion was created in 2009, but its origins lie
in Medell
ın’s 2008–2011 Development Plan.
The guidelines for the city’s science, tech-
nology, and innovation projects were pro-
duced under its Plan CTei 2010. Plan CTei
2010 was implemented under the leadership
of Ruta N (Corporaci
on Ruta N, 2012),
which was included in the corporation as
the body dedicated to science, technology,
and innovation (Centro de Estudios de
Opini
on (CEO), 2015). The Ruta N
Complex opened in 2012 and has served
Local Economy 35(5)
as ‘an urban symbol of innovation and
technological development in Medell
ın’.3
In 2012, Medell
ın’s Development Plan
2012–2015 proposed the construction of a
district for science, technology, and innova-
tion to strengthen the city’s innovation eco-
system. This plan was inspired by the 22@
District in Barcelona (Corporaci
on Ruta N,
2012). As part of this plan, a new urban
space was designed, of which the Ruta N
Complex was to be the epicentre (see
Figure 2). This complex is located in the
northern part of the city centre, bordering
on the Sevilla, Jes
us Nazareno, and
El Chagualo neighbourhoods and the
Universidad de Antioquia (see Figure 3).
According to management reports, the
productive achievements of Ruta N began
to take shape immediately following its inau-
guration in 2012. These achievements were
primarily related to the establishment of
businesses and the creation of jobs via the
business landing approach.4 In 2018, the
corporation reported 62 organisations
attracted to the District and the city, 270
since 2012 from 31 different countries, and
1931 jobs generated in 2018 and 6551 since
2012. The companies in the Information and
Communications Technology (ICT) indus-
try stand out, representing 69% of the
total (Corporaci
on Ruta N, 2018), close to
7% of total ICT business in the city, accord-
ing to the information of the commercial
public registry in 2018 (CCMA, 2019).
The Innovation District, which is the
neighbourhood where the Ruta N
Complex is located, is a depressed area of
the city with a marked need for socioeco-
nomic regeneration. According to the
CEO (2015), 2178 houses were registered
throughout the District, where a total of
2261 households are located, for an average
of 1.04 households per house, where the
socioeconomic characterisation of house-
holds is dominated by the lower-middle
(70.9%) and lower (29.05%) strata.
Additionally, 11% of the district’s
 Arenas et al.

Figure 2. Location of Ruta N Complex and Innovation District within the city. Source: Authors.
425
426
Figure 3. Ruta N Complex, centre of the Medell
ın Innovation District. Source: Authors.
population is made up of people who have
been displaced, that is people who have
come to the neighbourhood because they
have been forced to flee their homes, in
other cities and other regions of the coun-
try, to escape violence and the armed con-
flict. Furthermore, almost 10% of the
population live in rented rooms, perhaps
due to its proximity to institutions of
higher education. Given these territorial
characteristics, Ruta N declared from its
outset that its objectives were not solely
productive; they were also related to
urban renewal, as manifested in
Corporaci
on Ruta N (2013).
Transforming a territory into an innova-
tion zone is the essence of the District, a
pole that seeks to promote the urban
transformation of Medell
ın and improve
the conditions of the community that
lives there. A space in the city for acade-
mia, the private sector and society to sit
down and build synergies that catalyse
processes of research, development and
innovation. (49)
Local Economy 35(5)
Despite this statement, no studies have been
carried out to gain a systematic understand-
ing of how this technology and innovation
complex affects the neighbourhood.
Methodology
We use a case study methodology because
this research aims to provide an under-
standing of complex social phenomena
within realistic contexts, which require
extensive and in-depth descriptions (Yin,
2017). This study analyses how the Ruta
N Corporation has affected the nearby
neighbourhood. We aim to broaden the
existing theory on the effects of urban tech-
nological districts on neighbouring areas
based on a single holistic case (Yin, 2017).
For this purpose, we use the constructivist
approach of the grounded theory as pro-
posed by Charmaz (2006), which seeks to
determine the underlying theory of the
information produced and to understand
the interaction between the researcher, the
research subject, and the social context in
which they live. Hence, the resulting theory
will be a substantive theory because it
Arenas et al. 427

addresses delimited problems in specific representativeness but seeks conceptual

substantive areas.
The process of data collection was
focused on gathering primary information
from the population involved in Ruta N
and its neighbourhood. From this perspec-
tive, the interview is a privileged resource to
access information from the actor’s per-
spective, because the central objective is to
capture what is important in the mind of
the informants: their meanings, perspec-
tives, and definitions; in short, the way
they see, classify, and experience the world
(Cáceres et al., 2008).
During the design of the fieldwork, we
identify five groups of informants involved
in our case of study (see Table 1). Data were
gathered using semi-structured interviews
applied to 22 key and confidential inform-
ants, conducted between February and
March of 2018. The number of interviews
in each group and the total sample was the
result of four points usually considered in
qualitative studies: (i) the design fieldwork,
(ii) the process of snowball during the field-
work, (iii) the limits of our own resources
for this research, and (iv) the point of satu-
ration of information.
It is important to emphasise that the
nature of this research does not seek
and symbolic understanding in key inform-
ants, being this one of the differences
between quantitative and qualitative
research; while the first one tries to gener-
alise some aspect, the qualitative one tries
to go deeper into that same aspect, under-
standing the intersubjective meanings, situ-
ated and constructed (Cáceres et al., 2008).
After the fieldwork, the data were tran-
script and analysed using the specialised
software for qualitative data analysis:
ATLAS.tiVR according to the principles of
the grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006). The
analysis began with the open coding of the
interviews to group the information accord-
ing to attributes, thus leading to the crea-
tion of the categories used for the coding
process. This was carried out up to the the-
oretical saturation point. This process
resulted in over 480 initial categories.
With these categories, selective coding was
carried out using theoretical sampling. A
constant review reduced the original 480
categories to 80. These were then grouped
into nine families (macro-categories). Next,
axial coding was implemented to identify
relationships between codes and families.
All the coding process was discussed with
the members of the research team and with

Table 1. Groups and total of interviews.

Number of
Groups Definition interviews

Established Businesses Business people based in the Ruta N Complex 4

Experts Scholars with expertise in the urban transformation of Medell
ın 4
Founding Institutions People from the entities privy to the initial founding of the Ruta N 5
Corporation
Resident Population People residing in the neighbourhoods within the Innovation 4
District of Medell
ın
Practitioners People with administrative positions within the Ruta N 5
Corporation
Total People with intrinsic information about Ruta N and its relationship 22
with the neighbourhood
Source: Authors.
428
an additional and external researcher speci-
alised in qualitative methods of research.
This process was used to develop diverse
hypotheses, which led to the substantive
theory of this research, described in the fol-
lowing section.
A substantive theory: Ruta N, an
island of innovation
The relationship between the Ruta N
Corporation and the Innovation District in
the near neighbourhood is analysed in four
parts according to the results of our inter-
views: first, we analyse how the attraction
of new businesses and workers affected the
neighbourhood. Afterwards, we analyse how
the Ruta N Corporation itself directly affect-
ed the Innovation District. The third relevant
aspect of the theory has to do with under-
standing urban transformation in relation to
the presence of the Ruta N Corporation.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly to
the theory developed from this research, we
study the active and potential conflict
between the Ruta N Corporation and the
Innovation District.
Attraction of businesses
For the entire sample, the results
obtained from the interviews indicate that
Ruta N attracts domestic and international
companies to the area. However, there
Table 2. Determinants of business attraction.
Established
Businesses
Relational capital X X
Access to catalyst
R&D infrastructure X X
Set-up costs X
Specialist knowledge
Quality and cost of talent
Sources of capital
Source: Authors.
Local Economy 35(5)
are differences of opinion regarding the
factors that cause this attraction.
According to Established Businesses,
Founding Institutions, and Practitioners,
one of these factors is relational capital. In
other words, companies are arriving due to
the set of benefits they can obtain as a result
of maintaining a relationship with the city’s
innovation ecosystem. Founding Institutions
and Practitioners also highlight access to the
city’s investment catalyst as another factor.
Furthermore, Established Businesses and
Practitioners emphasise access to infrastruc-
ture, which allows businesses to carry out
research, development, and innovation
(R&D þ i) projects, while Established
Businesses point out the importance of the
low costs of starting a business within the
complex. Meanwhile, Founding Institutions
feel that access to specialised knowledge is
crucial. Finally, for Practitioners, the high
quality and low cost of innovative local
talent, as well as access to sources of capital,
are fundamental reasons for Ruta N’s
attractiveness to businesses (Table 2).
According to Established Businesses and
Practitioners, the influx of businesses to the
Ruta N Complex area has had positive
effects. For Established Businesses in par-
ticular, the effects cited include increased
diversification and competitiveness in the
innovation ecosystem and improvements in
terms of relational capital. For Practitioners,
Founding
Institutions Practitioners
X
X X
X
X
X
Arenas et al.
the positive effects are related to the transfer
of knowledge and improved status.
If you ask the businesses that are here, the
start-ups and others that have come
through the Landing programme what
values set it apart or why they are interested
in being at Ruta N, it’s because of the status
of being here, the offices, the infrastructure,
the model that they entail and, what’s more,
being able to say that you are part of Ruta
N gives you status. It gives you a lot of
recognition. (Interview #14. Practitioners)
According to Founding Institutions, despite
Ruta N’s relative success in attracting busi-
nesses in general, the R&D þ i infrastructure
has not attracted enough international busi-
ness. Additionally, Founding Institutions and
the Resident Population acknowledge that the
businesses that have been attracted to the area
are located within the Ruta N Complex but
not in surrounding areas. According to the
Founding Institutions, this is because of loca-
tion costs, the absence of talent in the
Innovation District, and the existence of inno-
vation capacity in other parts of the city.
So what they need is the ecosystem, public
services, suitable land, transportation,
intelligence, the ability to do things, and
they have begun to establish themselves in
multiple places. Now, between having to
pay 2, 3 or 4 million pesos per square
metre near Ruta N, and being able to
pay 400 thousand, 500 thousand pesos
per square metre in other places, well,
you are 15 or 20 minutes away, so why
would they pay such a high price?
(Interview #5. Founding Institutions)
The findings indicate that linkages between
the businesses attracted to the Ruta N
Complex and the Innovation District are
scarce. Firms remain located within the
complex but finally do not settle in the
Innovation District (Figure 4).
429
Attraction of talent
The Ruta N Corporation is perceived as an
attractive place for local, national, and
international innovative talent. According
to Practitioners, however, two substantial
weaknesses are observed in this regard.
First, this strategy has been explored very
little by the Ruta N Corporation. Second,
attracting talent requires a city-wide mar-
keting strategy; so far, such strategies have
been focused on government audiences but
not on the creative audience. Therefore,
according to the sample of this study, the
influx of innovative talent is a consequence
of the arrival of businesses. Similarly, for
Established Businesses and Founding
Institutions, talent is attracted by labour
market factors, such as the existence of
jobs, rewarding salaries, and opportunities
for professional growth. Additionally, as
with the attraction of businesses, the con-
centration of talent has led to the strength-
ening of Ruta N. According to Established
Businesses, the competitiveness of human
capital has increased, and a multicultural
environment has been created.
I know that other regions of the country
have started to see Medell
ın as a destina-
tion. There is a lot of talent from other
areas of the country, and from other coun-
tries. When you are at Ruta N, in the offi-
ces, some people speak Portuguese,
English, German, everything. So those
people are here for something, right? This
is why they come from different parts of
the country, because the pay is attractive,
too. Because there is potential for growth,
so the talent comes because the pay is
good, there are interesting jobs, and you
are given the possibility to grow.
(Interview #19. Established Businesses)
However, the talent who is attracted to the
area does not live in the Innovation District
(Figure 4). According to the Established
430
Businesses and Practitioners, the neigh-
bourhood is unsafe, lacks culture and
opportunities for leisure activities, and has
a poor image in general. Residents feel that
this is due to the scarcity of available hous-
ing. Additionally, Established Businesses
and Practitioners believe that the public
transport infrastructure in the Innovation
District prevents incoming talent from
residing in the Innovation District.
According to Residents, Practitioners, and
Experts, this is because new talent prefer to
live in areas that provide safety, have many
services, and where the population has
more purchasing power and higher status.
So, I think, in all honesty, well, this sector
doesn’t seem that great to me. It still
doesn’t seem like a great place to live.
Why? I don’t know, well, it seems like
there are places where you can find an
environment to live in, I mean, better
housing options, and I can afford it.
(Interview #20. Established Businesses)
Innovative talent is linked to the area
almost exclusively through the consump-
tion of essential services, primarily food
services and restaurants. This is explained,
according to the Established Businesses, by
the existence of a diversified supply of serv-
ices at low prices. This commercial link has
improved the neighbourhood’s economy in
terms of both quality and quantity. This has
led to the transformation of the area due to
the establishment of restaurants and com-
mercial centres, as explained below.
From the above discussion, we can con-
clude that, until now, the Ruta N
Corporation has been able to achieve its
objective of attracting businesses and inno-
vative talent, but with few advantages for
the nearby neighbourhood. The Ruta N
Complex is a place of work but not of res-
idence, and consequently it has limited con-
sumption effects (Figure 4). Nevertheless,
the findings also point to the importance
Local Economy 35(5)
of understanding how the Ruta N
Corporation itself relates to the neighbour-
hood in which it is located.
Relationship of Ruta N Corporation with
the neighbourhood
As stated, the Ruta N has not attracted
much business or talent to the near neigh-
bourhood. However, this does not mean
that Ruta N itself has no connection to
the territory surrounding the complex.
According to the Resident Population,
when Ruta N arrived in the area, its pres-
ence was viewed positively. Residents per-
ceived that Ruta N would provide them
with opportunities to access the complex,
training, and job opportunities. In the pre-
sent day, however, there are two conflicting
positions regarding the relationship
between Ruta N and the nearby neighbour-
hood. The first considers Ruta N an ele-
ment of urban fragmentation in the area;
the second perceives Ruta N an actor that
creates connections between the complex
and the surrounding neighbourhood.
Some of the results presented here point
to the notion that Ruta N is an element
of fragmentation. These findings are
based on the fact that Experts, Founding
Institutions, and the Resident Population
believe that the goods and services offered
by Ruta N Complex are not provided for
the residents of the area, separating their
spheres of action. Additionally, the
Resident Population highlights the difficul-
ties that they have experienced to enter
the Complex, the lack of willingness
of the Corporation to provide spaces for
the community to use it, and the scarce
employment and academic opportunities
given to residents.
Established Businesses perceive the exis-
tence of affiliations between Ruta N and
the nearby neighbourhood, highlighting
the access that Ruta N provides to produc-
tive innovation programmes. Moreover,
Arenas et al.
Practitioners perceive that a link exists in
terms of access given to community educa-
tion programmes. Meanwhile, the Resident
Population values the provision of innova-
tion and development contests, as well as
the access they are given to programmes
that promote the enhancement of small econ-
omies. Established Businesses, Founding
Institutions, and Practitioners also cited
such programmes as evidence for the connec-
tion between Ruta N and the Innovation
District.
Cocina Abierta (Open Kitchen), is a
project that seeks to foster innovation in
restaurants in the area. We designed a
strategy that we call the Transformative
Business Model, which seeks to under-
stand local dynamics and create scenarios
for those local dynamics to establish a dia-
logue with innovation, science and tech-
nology. (Interview #3. Practitioners)
Established Businesses highlight the connec-
tion between Ruta N and the neighbour-
hood that, as mentioned, was formed
primarily through commerce, both in terms
of growth and diversification (Figure 4):
So, of course, since Ruta N has come
along, a number of businesses, a number
of people have arrived that were not in the
area before; there starts to be a dynamic of
demand for a provision of services that
didn’t exist before (. . .) So, a relationship
starts to be generated with other services
which begin to establish themselves to
meet the demand from the existence of
Ruta N itself and the dynamics that it
itself creates. (Interview #16. Established
Businesses)
Urban transformation
Despite the weak interaction with firms and
workers located in the Ruta N Complex, the
431
nearby neighbourhood has undergone urban
transformation in recent years. This can be
seen, according to the Resident Population
and the Founding Institutions, in the
improvement of urban parks and the beauti-
fication of the area. This transformation is
not, however, a phenomenon associated
solely with the Ruta N Corporation.
Experts, the Resident Population, and
Practitioners understand that the urban
transformation of the area was a city strategy
consisting of several urban projects, of which
the Ruta N Complex is only one example.
Although the time frame of the present
study is relatively short at six years, it is
clear that development policies have had
positive economic results during this time.
However, these changes have a narrow spa-
tial scope. Urban transformation is limited
to the city blocks closest to the Ruta N
Complex, which, in itself, indicates that the
spillover effect of Ruta N has been small. As
a result, the image of the city centre is frag-
mented (Figure 4). According to Founding
Institutions and Practitioners, the slow pace
of change in the Innovation District reflects
the weakness of the city’s urban transforma-
tion policy. According to Practitioners, the
slow pace of change also reflects a lack of
activity within the private sector.
There has been growth. Every time you see
more people walking around because
today there are shopping centres, gyms,
cinemas. So, you see that there has been
change. However, two or three blocks fur-
ther on, that is lost a little bit, because it
goes back to how it was traditionally. It
doesn’t have that dangerous reputation
that it had before, but I feel that it is still
somewhat dangerous. (Interview #20.
Established Business)
Established Businesses, Residents, and
Practitioners believe that this transforma-
tion has provided benefits for its inhabi-
tants, including the beautification of the
432
neighbourhood. Furthermore, Residents
and Established Businesses perceive benefits
regarding access to better spaces for leisure.
Established Businesses and Practitioners
express that improvements have been
made in terms of the safety of the neigh-
bourhood. Meanwhile, according to
Residents and Practitioners, residents have
benefitted from improved shopping oppor-
tunities from the establishment of commer-
cial centres, outlets, etc. For Established
Businesses, the improved perception of
the neighbourhood is a beneficial factor.
Finally, for Practitioners, benefits also
include improvements in tourism, improved
ownership over the area, and an increased
institutional presence in a neighbourhood
that, just a few years ago, was depressed
and ignored.
So, from that psychological factor, seeing
something attractive in their area which
used to be somewhat depressed and so
on, that generates pride in them, and
they look after this infrastructure itself.
That also sends a very clear message to
citizens, when the institutions come
along . . . and that’s where the philosophy
of the city begins to change. (Interview
#14, Practitioners)
Despite these benefits, the findings suggest
that tension exists between the Innovation
District and the Ruta N Corporation.
Conflict
It is common for technological districts sit-
uated in urban areas to create tensions
between the district and the surrounding
population. In our case study, we found
that there is a conflict between the Ruta N
Corporation and the surrounding neigh-
bourhood. This conflict has four dimen-
sions, which are described below. The first
two dimensions are associated with the
weak links between Ruta N and the
Local Economy 35(5)
Innovation District; the second pair of
dimensions relate to urban transformation.
Ruta N Corporation as an element of urban
fragmentation. The Ruta N Complex has
gained a reputation of being separate from
its surrounding territory. According to
Experts, Founding Institutions, and the
Resident Population, this is rooted in the
fact that the goods and services offered at
the Ruta N Complex are oriented to an audi-
ence that does not include local residents.
It is clear that the space available and what
is on offer is not for that inhabitant of the
neighbourhood at all. It’s for an urbanite
from wherever in the world who is tran-
sient, right? Who is here connecting, doing
business and things, speaking in various
languages with different people, and needs
a quick coffee, a plate of food for an inter-
national palate. (Interview #18. Expert)
Additionally, the Resident Population cites
several elements of fragmentation between
the neighbourhood and the Ruta N
Corporation, including the difficulty of gain-
ing access to the complex, the lack of willing-
ness from the Ruta N Corporation to provide
spaces for the community, and the scarcity of
opportunities for work and academic practi-
cums available to residents (Figure 4). As a
result, the Ruta N Complex is often viewed
by the Resident Population as an island.
There are security guards at the entrance:
‘What are you here for? Do you have a
meeting? Let me see your invitation card.
Let’s see. . .’ I mean, I myself tried dozens
of times. There are people who know it
from the outside, or the most that people
know are the outlets in the food court or
the banks, nothing more. In reality, there
has been a total barrier. The people have
defined it; the people here have called it
‘Ruta Isla’ [Island]. They have called it
‘Ruta Bunker.’ I mean, they have said all
Arenas et al.
of this about it because it’s an island within
the territory; it’s isolated from everything.
(Interview #2. Resident Population)
Residents’ feeling of being instrumentalised. This
dimension of the conflict is based on the
interviews with Residents. The few training
sessions which have been offered have
occurred without the needs of the popula-
tion being considered. Additionally, pro-
posals made by residents seem to have
been ignored by the Ruta N Corporation.
The perception of having been instrumen-
talised is reinforced by the change of atti-
tude that residents have observed regarding
the conduct of the Ruta N Complex.
During the stage of integration, participa-
tive processes with the local community
were relatively frequent; however, these
stopped once the complex had been estab-
lished (Figure 4).
In the first few months or the first year that
Ruta N was here, it was very close to us as
leaders. They offered us places to go and
get training, they gave us training and
everything, but it was just for that period
of time. I mean, I imagine that they manip-
ulated us. For me, it was like being used.
(Interview #10. Resident Population)
Residents’ sense of uncertainty. The feeling of
uncertainty among residents was also
expressed by the Experts. For this group,
although residents see the participation of
Ruta N in the process of urban transforma-
tion, they do not know who the stakehold-
ers are in their neighbourhood, nor do they
know how to manage the situation.
Additionally, these interviewees stated that
residents had been privy to very few discus-
sion sessions on urban development issues
and that Ruta N management was not pre-
sent at these.
433
But [residents] are not clear on what inno-
vation is. So, each one comes up with their
own representations of what it means to
be an innovative area. Being an innovative
city, ‘What good is that to us?’ But they
are clear on the fact that their land is
worth a lot. Their plots are being bought
for a different price, but they understand
that there is great economic interest in
their area. But what I said just now, they
don’t know who they need to negotiate
with. That is, who is the stakeholder?
They know that there are actors, but
they still haven’t put a face to that actor,
and they don’t have information. In fact,
in that meeting that was held in Parque de
la Vida, many of them were very con-
cerned because they had invited the
people from Ruta N and they didn’t go.
I mean, they gave whatever excuse, but it
was clear that they did not want to be in
that space because it was understood as a
space of confrontation. (Interview #18.
Expert)
Residents’ fear of expulsion. The results pre-
sented here are in line with the literature
in terms of the fears of gentrification, seg-
regation, loss of neighbourhood identity,
transformation of the neighbourhood econ-
omy, and influence of the district in urban
policy. Although indicators of gentrifica-
tion have not been present to date, fears
of imminent displacement are latent
among residents. According to Experts
and Practitioners, these fears are based on
the gradual increase in the cost of living and
on the steady loss of neighbourhood identi-
ty. Meanwhile, for Residents, this feeling is
also associated with the limitations of
urban policy in the area, as well as the
fact that the Ruta N Corporation is under-
stood as an entity that aims to carry out its
functions as a property operator.
434
Figure 4. Ruta N, an island of innovation. Source: Authors.
What people say [is that] the property
owners are afraid, and that’s why that
happened at the beginning with Ruta N,
that they were going to buy the houses.
Sorry, what were those fears? That
‘because the municipality is going to buy
my house, the municipality is not going to
give me what my house is really worth,
and where am I going to go?’ Which, in
the area, they were going to build high-rise
buildings. I think they are going to build
high-rise buildings up to 10 storeys high.
The area is going to be very beautiful, and
Local Economy 35(5)
I think that that is part of the development
plan. (Interview #9. Resident Population)
Although these fears have not escalated
into active conflict, they have increased ten-
sion and dissatisfaction among those living
in the Innovation District.
They also felt that their everyday life was
very disturbed, for example, talking of
those issues of unemployment, a family
becomes unemployed, professionals, they
see a little shop, and they are going to
Arenas et al.
set up an ironmonger, right? But it turns
out that the little shop didn’t cost a million
pesos anymore, I mean, that was already
costing several million. He said, ‘Well, we
can’t pay that.’ Who can pay that? Big
business. (Interview #18. Experts)
According to the Residents and
Practitioners, this conflict is progressively
reaching a level which has led to protests
that have manifested as demonstrations
and articles expressing dissatisfaction with
the lack of employment opportunities
offered to residents, as well as with latent
fears of gentrification. Planning discussion
sessions (forums, meetings, etc.) have also
been held with little participation from the
Ruta N Corporation. This absence has also
been evidenced, occasionally, in legal ses-
sions that seek to clarify and modify
urban transformation regulations.
We have summarised all the elements of
the theory found and previously described
in the following diagram.
Discussion of results
The theory grounded in the information gath-
ered reinforces the positive achievements of
Ruta N in terms of attracting businesses
and talent, but it also shows that the objective
of urban transformation is not being met as
expected. The lack of sites and set-up costs in
the neighbourhood mean that firms establish
themselves within the Ruta N Complex but
not in the Innovation District. A similar
pattern occurs with the arrival of talent, as
the problems that exist in the Innovation
District defer incoming talent from settling
in the neighbourhood. The characteristics of
the neighbourhood have, therefore, limited
the influx of businesses and talent,
thus minimising their potential transforma-
tional effect.
The lack of businesses and talent in the
neighbourhood itself has meant that resi-
dents’ interactions with new businesses
435
and talent are limited to those centred
around the consumption of essential serv-
ices. Meanwhile, productive relationships
or connections related to innovative or
high-technology products are negligible.
Additionally, Ruta N has gradually scaled
down its engagement with the neighbour-
hood. According to the findings of this
study, these two effects reinforce one anoth-
er, leading to the sensation of Ruta N as an
island set apart from the neighbourhood.
At the same time, this interaction has led
to an urban transformation centred
around the diversification of commerce
and restaurants, although the most notable
changes in the neighbourhood seem to be to
the result of public policy more than of the
presence of Ruta N. Moreover, the changes
that have been implemented have a limited
spatial scope.
Based on the above observations, the
substantive theory explains the escalation
of a potential conflict between Ruta N
and the surrounding community. This con-
flict is based on four components. The first
component pertains to the provision of
goods and services targeted at an audience
that excludes residents, difficulty accessing
the Complex, a lack of spaces for the com-
munity, and scarce employment opportuni-
ties. The second component has to do with
the community’s feeling of being used,
which is caused by the reduction in Ruta
N’s engagement with the neighbourhood.
The third component is the feeling of uncer-
tainty in residents, which is caused by their
lack of understanding of what it means to live
in an innovation district, as well as their lack
of knowledge of how to accept the transfor-
mations that this involves. The fourth and
final component indicates that the increase
in costs, the loss of neighbourhood identity,
and the limitations that residents face in
making alterations to their properties have
led to a fear of potential gentrification.
Beyond specific instances of dissatisfac-
tion or debate, however, these tensions do
436
not appear to be causing an increase in
social movements opposed to Ruta N.
Furthermore, the conflict identified herein
is not associated solely with urban transfor-
mation nor with fears of gentrification or
other topics covered broadly in the litera-
ture. The conflict is also linked to factors
such as the residents’ feelings of being
instrumentalised and their uncertainty.
These factors warrant detailed analyses in
future research.
The results obtained have direct implica-
tions for the potential success of one of the
central aims of Ruta N, namely the regen-
eration of the neighbourhood in which it is
located. The theory developed shows a
trend towards deeper separation between
Ruta N and the neighbourhood.
Therefore, if strategies for community out-
reach are not introduced, the conflict may
manifest itself in a more intense and organ-
ised manner in the future, as has occurred
internationally in other cases.
Although the present research has been
carried out nine years after the creation of
the Ruta N Corporation and six years after
its urban complex opened, patterns and
trends can already be observed that may
affect the future evolution of relationships
with the neighbourhood. Therefore, a
deeper understanding of the isolation of
Ruta N and its potential conflict with its
surroundings is essential to enabling this
local development policy based on a techno-
logical cluster to work in the Latin American
context. This type of research needs to be
carried out on an ongoing basis for an
understanding to be gained regarding the
effects that the presence of the Ruta N
Complex has on the neighbourhood.
Conclusions
The results obtained in this study indicate
the need to implement strategies that con-
tribute to greater community integration
and participation, as well as to the
Local Economy 35(5)
transformation of the neighbourhood. This
is because interaction without transforma-
tion would involve links with a degraded
and unattractive neighbourhood. Greater
participation can be achieved using spaces
within the Complex for neighbourhood
meetings, opportunities for academic practi-
cums for residents, and programmes for
grants for business ventures. Alternatively,
training could be carried out focusing on
the needs of the neighbourhood. In this pro-
cess, it is imperative to resume active rela-
tions with social leaders and neighbourhood
centres, seeking not mere initial acceptance
but a sustainable relationship.
The creation of public–private coopera-
tion programmes aimed at neighbourhood
enhancement is recommended to foster the
transformation of the Innovation District.
Such programmes could include upgrading
urban amenities through community partic-
ipation and the restoration of central sites
without incurring a loss of identity. Finally,
we feel that spaces should be created for
discussions to take place to address issues
related to urban development in the neigh-
bourhood. Discussions could include those
on the purpose of the Innovation District
and the opportunities and challenges it
presents. The aim of these discussions
should be to reduce feelings of uncertainty
and fear of gentrification. Also, senior man-
agement of the Ruta N Corporation should
actively participate in these discussions.
Finally, this research shows that more
transparent and equitable mechanisms need
to be created that would allow the beneficial
effects of the Ruta N Corporation to extend
to the neighbouring community. In this way,
the success of the Ruta N Corporation could
translate into the success of the neighbour-
hood, thus making it a successful case of
urban renewal.
What I mean is that I believe that we need
to work hard on how Ruta N develops or
is developing strategies that will allow it to
Arenas et al.
be more influential in the neighbouring
community because the success of Ruta
N depends upon the success of the com-
munity in which it is embedded. (Interview
#12. Founding Institutions)
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of
interest with respect to the research, authorship,
and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for
the research, authorship, and/or publication of
this article.
ORCID iD
Lehyton Arenas https://orcid.org/0000-0002-
7143-5170
Notes
1. See www.online.wsj.com/ad/cityoftheyear.
2. Using an annual average of the exchange
rate for 2018 (1 dollar ¼ $2956.43
Colombian pesos). See www.banrep.gov.co/
es/estadisticas/trm.
3. Extracted from www.distritoMedell
ın.org/.
4. The landing programme seeks to attract busi-
nesses and R&Dþi centres, among other
actors, which generate added value and pri-
oritise R&Dþi for the city. According to
information compiled during fieldwork, any
businesses accessing landing must establish
themselves for a maximum of two years.
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