T
his is an international workshop that focuses on the growth of informal settlements. It uses Medellin informal settlements in Comuna (District) 8 as a case study. The class engages students from MIT and from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia in Medellin with local community members to develop an integral plan at multiple scales (policy, urban design, architectural projects and strategic products). The class research teams worked together in Medellin and in Boston at MIT. We researched ways these projects could mediate community interests and municipal city-wide plans. This class publication of our research and design played a key role in the negotiation process between community and city officials in the new official City Plan Plan de Ordenamiento Territorial POT 2014.