麦德林破茧成蝶的蜕变

麦德林破茧成蝶的蜕变“麦德林曾是座败落的城市，七年前这座城市被毒品吞噬，二十年前又爆发动乱，社会不平等现象严重，贫民窟连片。

而如今令人佩服的是，麦德林早已摆脱重重困境，重现城市生机，在改善城市安全、住房和交通条件方面取得巨大成功。

同时贫民窟也得以治理，穷人得到妥善对待。

”在谈及哥伦比亚城市――麦德林时，联合国副秘书长乔恩?克劳斯这样跟记者说道。

如今的麦德林市，这座人口接近4百万的城市已经是旧貌换新颜，毒品换鲜花，成为了闻名遐迩的生态之都、文化之城和艺术之乡。

生态之都麦德林是哥伦比亚第二大城市，位于首都波哥大西北部约240千米处。

地处中科迪勒拉山脉西麓的阿布拉山谷，波尔塞河畔。

这里四季如春，土壤肥沃，盛产鲜花，不仅是哥伦比亚咖啡的重要产区，还以公园和鲜花出名，是品质最高的兰花产地之一。

麦德林被称为“春城”、“花都”，每年八月，在鲜花盛开的季节，麦德林便成了鲜花的海洋。

因此，每年8月上旬这里都会举行盛大的鲜花节。

鲜花节始于1957年，经历代代传承，既丰富了民俗，又向慕名而来的游客展示了麦德林近些年来迅速变化的城市形象。

麦德林圣多明戈区有一条数千米长的缆车，从山脚地铁站一直连接到山顶。

乘坐缆车俯瞰脚下的世界，几乎成了每个游客到麦德林的必做之事，隔着透明玻璃，可以一睹这麦德林的真容。

麦德林被山脉簇拥环绕着，颇显特色的红色房子绵延于山谷之间，沿着山势漫山遍野地“盛开”，连缀成片。

放眼所望，清一色的红令人双目眩晕、久难忘怀。

据说大多数的麦德林人，祖上都来自于西班牙的巴斯克地区，加之安第斯山区独特的气候环境，人们极为满足，无人愿意迁移。

西班牙的热情和安第斯的习习凉风，打造出了麦德林的风情无限。

在凯瑟琳?皮科德看来，麦德林是一座遍布公园与鲜花的城市，那些弥漫在空气中的绿色清香正改变着每一个普通麦德林居民的生活节奏和视野。

沐浴在清新的春风中，生活在优美的环境中，这里的人们也变得更加乐观和积极。

文化之城可以说麦德林之所以显得突出，跟它在都市文化方面的强势息息相关，现在这一点几乎已经成了这座城市名片。

麦德林是哥伦比亚重要的文化教育中心，有5所大学、科研机构以及博物馆、植物园等。

松巴塔――由一群从哥伦比亚乔科地区移民到这里的黑人青年创办的，旨在推广乔科音乐和舞蹈的文化组织，是麦德林的一个公共项目的受益者。

这里的居民投票决定将一笔政府拨款用于增设学校、诊所和大学奖学金。

松巴塔靠着这笔拨款聘请了音乐老师，添置乐器，还在它的总部新建了一个录音棚。

公共建筑和广场的建设增强了公民的自豪感，高效、整洁的地铁和电车系统则突出体现着麦德林的新生民主。

在麦德林城市建设中贯彻着一条最基本的原则，即为城中最差和最危险的地区建设具有教育意义的开放空间。

文化杂志记者安德烈亚?门多萨说，这些空间使得这座城市更快地社会化，为市民提供福利设施，并使他们体会到一种“有幸接收到教育”的安全感。

投资400万美元建造的西班牙图书馆，由三栋彼此相连的巨型石头房子构成，已成为一个社区中心和城市象征。

当地人戈麦兹称，西班牙图书馆改变了他们对自我的认知。

艺术之乡各具特色，颇富匠心的赤脚公园、愿望公园、博特罗雕塑广场和阿尔维生态公园只是突显麦德林艺术气息的公共空间中的一小部分。

赤脚公园位于麦德林市中心，其设计思路源于禅宗哲学，设计者在公园中设计了一片竹林和两处可让人赤脚进入的活动场地，与沙、水接触，感受身心的双重体验。

由西班牙王室资助建造的圣多明戈图书馆是为儿童和青少年交流而建的玩具图书馆。

孩子们在这里可以自由地接触各种社会信息、机构、书籍和互联网络，方便促进青少年，尤其是来自棚户区的孩子们发挥想象力和创造力，同时远离非法行为和思想。

而来到麦德林最让人念念不忘的，当属哥伦比亚国宝级艺术家博特罗和他的那些丰满体硕的作品，城中的安蒂奥基亚博物馆里珍藏着费尔南多?波特罗捐赠的92件个人艺术品，门前的博特罗广场上还有20多尊巨大的博特罗的雕像作品，胖乎乎的小马，胖乎乎的小女孩、大男人，胖乎乎的小鸭子，甚至是植物都同样是浑圆饱满的。

这一切，顿时让这个曾经臭名昭著的城市，变得生趣盎然。

换肤运动从二十世纪九十年代开始，麦德林政府开始“治疗”贩毒集团留下来的创伤，发起了一场以“消除暴力和贫困”为主旨的“换肤运动”，从改进公共服务设施建设、公共服务开始，努力为民众构建一个安全和平的城市环境。

在满足民众需求的基础上，注重社会公平，逐步驱散暴力的阴影。

麦德林市政府提倡发展教育、为城市提供足够的公共空间，改善大中小学的教育设施，让更多的人得到受教育的机会，并在不同的平民社区兴建现代化图书馆，让低收入家庭的孩子能免费使用科学书籍、电脑等教育资源。

在基础设施建设方面，麦德林市政府注意发展公共交通。

城市快速公交、轻轨以及空中缆车构成了城市交通的主要网络，三者换乘无需另付费用，十分方便。

在麦德林市“破茧化蝶”的过程中，不论是在实体设施方面还是在机制方面，麦德林都通过优先考虑贫困社区的解决方案展现了其榜样的风采。

在政策上向被边缘化的群体“倾斜”，通过改善社区的基础设施建设、美化环境等，让低收入群体享受到更多的社会福利，并且在建设中吸引居民共同参与设计，以确保建成的公共设施是符合居民需要的。

此外，还有特别为孩子们设计的活动区域，而这些也自然是由孩子们自行设计的。

“城市换肤运动”使麦德林的城市面貌焕然一新，成为了继波哥大、卡塔纳赫之后的哥伦比亚第三大旅游城市。

随着一系列市政“美容”项目的陆续建成，麦德林市变得越来越漂亮，充满现代气息，被众多机构评价为“建筑最美”的城市之一。

今天的麦德林已经摆脱了那个臭名昭著、治安混乱的毒枭之城的阴影，可以终年不断地主办各类会议、纺织品展、设计与时装展以及国际艺术展等活动，时尚、干净、淳朴、精致、后现代已经成为它新的标签。

“In the past，Medellin used to be a brutal city. Seven years ago，this city was devoured by drugs. Twenty years ago，riots broke out here. There were severe social inequalities and slums in groups in this city. What’s impressive is that Medellin has already gotrid of the troubles and shown great vitalities. It has achieved great success in improving urban safety，housing and transportation. Slums are properly governed and the poor are properly treated”，UN Under-Secretary-General Joan Clos said the above to a journalist. Now，Medellin with a population of nearly 4 million has taken on a new look with drugs turned into flowers and it has become a famous city of ecology，culture and art.City of ecologyMedellin is the second largest city in Colombia，to the northwest of the capital Bogota with a distance of about 240 km. Located in the Abra Valley at the west of Central Cordillera Mountains and Porce River，Medellin's climate the climate in Medellin is like spring all the year round with fertile soil and abundant flowers. Medellin is not only an important producing area of coffee but also famous in gardens and flowers and is one of the high-quality producing areas of orchid.Medellin is seen as “Spring City”and “Flower City”. Every August，when flowers bloom，Medellin becomes an ocean of flowers. Therefore in early August，it will hold a grand flower festival. Flower festival started in 1957 and after the inheritance of many generations，it has not only enrichedthe culture but also showed the quickly changing image of Medellin to visitors.There is a long cable car line with the length of thousands of meters in San Domingo District of Medellin which connects the subway station at the foot of the mountain up to the top. It is almost a must-do for visitors to take the cable car and get abird's-eye view of the city below. Through the transparent glass，visitors can take a look at the whole city of Medellin. Medellin is surrounded by mountain ranges. Typical red houses stretch along valleys and spread in groups in the mountains. The exclusive red in visitors’eyes is very impressive. It is said that the forefathers of Medellin people mostly came from Basque Area of Span. The particular climate and environment of the Andes Mountains makes them very satisfied and not willing to migrate. The passion of Spain and the cool environment of the Andes shape out the unique style of Medellin.In Catherine Pekede’s opinion，Medellin is a city full of gardens and flowers. The fragrance diffused in the air changes the life tempos and visions of every ordinary Medellin citizen. Bathed in the fresh spring breeze and living in the beautiful environment，people there become more optimistic and positive. City of cultureThe prominence of Medellin is closely related to its strength in urban culture which has become the name card of the city. Medellin is an important cultural and educational center of Colombia with five universities，scientific research institutions，museums and botanic gardens.Son Batáis a cultural organization aimed to promote the music and dance of Chocófounded by black youth migrating from Chocóregion of Colombia. It is a beneficiary of public programs. Through voting，the residents there decided to allocate some money for building schools and clinics and setting up college scholarships. With the money，Son Batáemployed music teachers，purchased musical instruments and even built a recording studio at the headquarters. The construction of public facilities and squares improved the pride of citizens and the efficient and tidy subway and electric buses represent the democracy of Medellin.There is a fundamental principle for the construction of Medellin that building educational open area for the worst and most dangerous areas of Medellin. Andrea Mendoza，a reporter of a culture magazine，said that those areas sped up the socialization of the city，provided welfare facilities for the citizens and made them have the sense of security of “beingfortunate enough to receive education”. Medellin invested $4 million to build the Spanish Library which is made up by three gigantic stone buildings connecting with one another. The library has already become a community center and the symbol of the city. Local citizen Gómez said that the Spanish Library changed their self-awareness.City of artBarefoot's Park，Park of Wishes，Botero sculptures’piazza and Arvi Eco-Park all have their distinct characteristics. Despite that，they are just a small part of the open space demonstrating Medellin’s artistry.The Barefoot's Park is located at the center of Medellin and its idea of design is originated from Zen philosophy. The designer planned a bamboo forest and two activity places for people to have direct contact with water and sand with bare feet and have the dual experience of body and heart.The Aanto Domingo Library funded by the Spanish royal family is a toy library for the communication of children and teenagers. Children can have free touch with various social information，organizations，books and Internet access. This can promote teenagers，especially those from slums，to develop imagination and creativity and keep away from illegalactivities and ideas. The most impressive figure to visitors should be Botero，Colombia’s most prestigious artist，and his plumb works. Museo de Antioquia keeps 92 of Fernando Botero’s personal art works donated by him. There are also over 20 gigantic sculptures of Botero’s at Botero Square in front of the museum including plumb ponies，plumb girls and men，plumb little ducks and even round and full plants. All these have made the once notorious city become full of life again.Changeover movementIn the beginning of the 1990s，the Medellin Municipal Government began to “cure”the damages left by drug trafficking groups and launched a changeover movement aimed to “eliminate violence and poverty”. The movement started with improving public facilities and public service and strived to construct a safe and peaceful urban environment for citizens. On the basis of satisfying the public’s needs，the movement focused on social equity to gradually disperse the shadow of violence.The Medellin Municipal Government advocates the development of education to provide enough open space for the city，improves education facilities for schools to make more people have access to education and builds modern libraries incivilian communities to make the children of low-income families have free access to education resources like scientific books and computers.As to the aspects of infrastructure construction，the Medellin Municipal Government focuses on developing public transportation. The city’s main transportation network is composed of rapid transit buses，light rail transport and cable cars. Passengers do not need to pay extra fees to transfer between the three vehicles and it is very convenient.In the process of Medellin’s “growing into a butterfly from a cocoon”，Medellin prioritizes poor communities both from practical implementation and mechanism，which shows its model effects. There is a policy inclination for marginalized groups. Through improving the facilities and environment of communities，low-incoming groups can enjoy more social benefits. Citizens are involved in the construction to make sure that the facilities live up to the needs of citizens. In addition，there are activity areas especially designed for children and they are designed by children themselves.“The Changeover Movement”has made Medellin take on new looks and becomes the third tourism city in Colombia following Bogota and Cartagena. With the construction of aseries of changeover programs，Medellin is becoming more and more beautiful and full of modern vitality. It is appraised as one of the cities with “the most beautiful architecture”by many organizations. Nowadays，Medellin has already got rid of the shadow of being a notorious and chaotic drug trafficking city. It can hold various activities like conferences，textile exhibitions，design and fashion shows and international artistic activities all the year round. Fashion，cleanliness，simplicity，delicacy and post modernism have become the new labels of Medellin.。