00Territory · evidence · decision
We read the city
to make better decisions.
Cartograma is an urban intelligence and territorial strategy practice. We study spatial relationships, change and inequality to inform decisions about the city.
We work with governments, planning and mobility departments, institutions and developers.
NewEveryday Proximity Index · ColombiaBogotá, Medellín, Cali and Barranquilla, Colombia’s four most populous cities, measured with the same method. Further down this page. ↓01 · A demonstration · Bogotá / CO
What lies within fifteen minutes?
What you can take care of close to home depends on the neighborhood. We measured it in Bosques de San Jorge, in Suba.
Bosques de San Jorge is one of the 2,767 DANE census sections the city is divided into. All of them are measured the same way.
What lies within fifteen minutes? What you can take care of close to home depends on the neighborhood. We measured it in Bosques de San Jorge, in Suba.
- 6,956 people in one section of Bogotá Bosques de San Jorge is one of the 2,767 DANE census sections the city is divided into. All of them are measured the same way.
- Each dot, a group of homes Each of the 43,331 city blocks has a dot with the people who live there according to the 2018 census. Trips start there, not from the center of the neighborhood.
- In Bosques de San Jorge, 13 starting points Its 6,956 people live in 13 city blocks. A trip starts from each one.
- From the front door to the street Each dot is joined to the nearest sidewalk or path, about 24 m away. That is where the walk begins.
- Walking follows the street, not a straight line At a normal pace, fifteen minutes cover 1,194 m along streets and paths.
- On foot: 351 places in 15 minutes Food shops, schools, public health services, parks, libraries and transit stops: everything within a fifteen-minute walk from the 13 blocks.
- By bicycle: 1,141 places In the same 15 minutes a bicycle covers 3 km and reaches 3.3 times as many places as on foot.
- By car: 1,247 places In rush-hour traffic, 12 minutes behind the wheel reach 3.7 km. The car reaches only 9% more places than the bicycle.
- Summary · Bosques de San Jorge The bicycle multiplies what lies within fifteen minutes on foot by 3.3; the car, at rush hour, adds only 9% more.
The index compares the 71,400 inhabited city blocks of Bogotá, Medellín, Cali and Barranquilla with a different measure: the street distance to the nearest place of each function.
02What we do
That demonstration answered one question. Here are the rest.
Our work is analysis: we turn public data and each organization’s own records into a reading of the territory that can be used to make decisions, and to explain them.
We organize it into three practice areas. Choose the one closest to your question: there you will find what we deliver and the cases that show it.
- Area 01
Land and Urban Regulation
Understanding what can happen in a territory, where, and under what rules.
For those making decisions about the future of a territory.
We help you decide where to grow, what to allow and where to invest, based on what the territory allows today and what is changing.
Questions we answer
- What can be built on this parcel or in this area?
- Where is it best to grow without moving away from jobs and services?
- What changes if the rules change?
Every project starts from your question; the scope is defined with you.
- ColombiaWhere is Bogotá growing? →28% of new construction goes where proximity is lowest, home to 18% of the people
- MexicoWhere can Cancún grow? →Only 17% of what can be built on vacant lots is well connected to jobs
- UruguayWhere is Montevideo building? →9.3 new m² per person where proximity is highest; 2.2 to 3.5 where it is lowest
- SpainWhere do Spanish cities build? →42.7% of new housing goes where proximity is lowest, home to 20% of the people
- Area 02
Mobility and Accessibility
Understanding who can reach what, from where, and how quickly.
For those who need to know how a location connects to the rest of the city.
We help you see who can reach what and how quickly, and where an intervention changes access the most.
Questions we answer
- What can each neighborhood reach in fifteen minutes, or in an hour by transit?
- Which crossing or street should be fixed first?
- Did the project that was built work?
Every project starts from your question; the scope is defined with you.
- ColombiaWhich Bogotá crossing to fix first? →Only 11 of the top 100 crossings match between spatial justice and road safety
- MexicoDid fixing Cancún’s crossings work? →The 35 crossings that were fixed had 42% to 48% fewer crashes than expected
- UruguayWhere do people get hurt on the street? →18% of Montevideo’s street kilometers account for 67% of people seriously injured or killed
- SpainWhat is out of reach for older people? →Walking slowly, 33.2% have the health center more than 15 minutes away; the pharmacy and the shop stay close
- Area 03
Urban Operations
Understanding how the everyday city works, to decide where and how to act.
For those who manage networks, services and operations spread across a territory.
We help you read your records to find where service fails and what to address first.
Questions we answer
- Where does service fail, and why?
- Which places need attention first?
- Are promises being kept?
Every project starts from your question; the scope is defined with you.
- MexicoAre reports in San Pedro resolved on time? →They are assigned the same day; fixing the pavement takes two weeks
- UruguayIs waste collected on time? →Late on 2% of days in central Montevideo and on 21% to 24% in the outskirts
- SpainWhere to open climate shelters? →19.4% of Seville’s population has a shelter within 15 minutes; 99.6% in Barcelona
03New · Everyday Proximity Index · Colombia
How close is everyday life in Colombia’s large cities?
We repeated the demonstration’s measurement in Bogotá, Medellín, Cali and Barranquilla: for each of the 12.3 million people counted by the census in their 71,400 city blocks, we measured the walking distance along the network to food, education, health, recreation, culture and transit, and compared it with everyone else’s. Half of the people in Medellín reach 54.5 points or more; in Barranquilla, 40.3. With one scale for all four cities, the index shows which neighborhoods need services first, and where new housing can go close to what already exists.
See the indexMeasure your neighborhoodThe index in each city
less proximitymore
New · Projects · Bogotá
Eleven questions about Bogotá, each with its own atlas.
The same series of questions we asked in Cancún, now with Bogotá’s street network, crash records, cadastre, land-use plan (POT), TransMilenio GTFS and proximity index: which crossing to improve first, where the street concentrates deaths, where the city is growing, where it could densify, how much of the zoning fits on each lot, how far away the bus is and what can be reached in an hour.
11 out of 100 match
The crossings Bogotá should improve first change with the question: spatial justice, universal accessibility or road safety.
The fast street concentrates deaths
Roads with a 60 km/h limit are 18% of the network and account for 56% of fatal crashes.
Bogotá grows far from public services
The quintile with the least proximity receives 28% of the growth with 18% of the people, and it grows upward.
A million people in a low-rise, well-served city
City blocks close to everything with two stories or fewer: how much they could grow and how much zoning allows.
Half of Bogotá is already at the base height
What POT 555 allows against what is built, lot by lot.
The avenue arrives late
On the southern edge, housing and the zonal bus arrive before the arterial road; in the new complexes, before the public street.
An hour by bus, a third of the city
What can be reached in 60 minutes of public transit at rush hour, city block by city block.
The stop is close; the bus, not always
Half of the people have a stop within 203 m, but 304,744 wait more than 15 minutes at rush hour.
One in nine crosses a fast avenue
How many minors cross a 60 km/h road on the way to the nearest school, and where.
The large city block lengthens the walk
Crossing a gated complex costs 1.66 times the straight line; opening its gates barely shortens it.
Bogotá is a continuum
The POT’s 33 UPLs with the same profile sheet: five profiles and what the locality hides.
04Contact
What do you need to decide about your territory?
Every project starts with a good question. Tell us yours, and we will reply with a first reading of the problem.
Discuss a project