Urban Exchange Podcast Episode 6: Daniel Quintero, Mayor of Medellin

Urban Exchange: Cities on the Frontlines

Preview: The latest episode of the Urban Exchange brings together Mayor of Medellín Daniel Quintero with Leading Cities’ Mike Lake to discuss the advance of urban resilience in Colombia’s second-largest city.

The new Urban Exchange takes an in-depth look at how Medellín has been led through times of strain in the pandemic by Mayor Quintero, and how it is now emerging as a more resilient and robust city.

Mayor Quintero explains what opportunities he sees for the city to build further resilience during its recovery from Covid-19, and how resilience is a critical part of addressing climate change in cities and beyond. He details the ways in which response to the pandemic and the climate crisis, judged by the ways in which citizens and communities are looking for answers on both fronts, are so closely linked and interconnected.

Maintaining focus on climate action and environmental solutions, Mike probes further into the ways that city leaders in Medellín are seeking to make it Latin America’s first eco-city. The mayor details how becoming an eco-city is key to driving resilience forwards and how that objective can help the city to find solutions to some of its more pressing and complex societal issues. As part of those solutions, we also hear about the city’s plans to launch the Metro De La 80 by 2027, as Mayor Quintero explains how the metro will improve transport access for communities and create a more resilient and equitable city.

As the city’s youngest mayor to date, we also find out how the mayor’s experiences have been shaped by his engagement with the community – especially the younger generation – and how building communities around important issues can drive progress towards urban and climate resilience forwards at a quicker pace