The Golden Lion was awarded in recognition of the efforts made to improve the quality of life of the people who live in Colombia’s capital, thus also attracting prospective buyers to invest in property for sale in Colombia.  Bogotá was in the running against 15 other cities from four continents.

In his speech, the director of the Architecture Exhibition, Richard Burdett, said “the prize has gone to the most intelligent city, a city that is looking seriously at the future, in a Third World country with problems of poverty and crime, but that has managed to re-launch itself thanks to the inspired vision of its politicians ".

In turn, the President of the Biennale, Davide Croff, simply said that Italians should take note of the progress being made in Bogotá.

The former mayor of Bogotá, Enrique Peñalosa, who was at the awards ceremony, said: “A Japanese multinational company once made a proposal to build seven elevated highways, but we said no, we wanted to do something different, a city should be more about people than about cars ".

The idea of creating a more human city excited the members of the jury, who said that Bogotá has successfully applied the saying of Mies Van Der Rohe that “more is less”: “Less cars means more public space and more resources for its citizens”, said the jury.

The jury’s ruling also points out that through “innovations in transportation” the city has been successful in managing problems related to social inclusion and public space.

“Bogotá, in summary, is a beacon of hope for other cities, whether rich or poor,” said the jury.

The Venice Biennale Architecture Exhibition is one of the most important of its kind in Europe, with the participation of some of the world’s most renowned urbanists and architects.

The event is intended as a laboratory of ideas, and this year its theme was the challenge of making large metropolitan areas liveable. This makes the award received by Bogotá especially significant, because it sets an example for other cities in the world.

The Golden Lion is the most coveted award offered by the Biennale, but it is not the only one. Two Mexicans took the prize for the “best urban project”, named ‘Brazil 44’, a project located in Mexico City. The exhibitions from Iceland, Macedonia and Japan were elected the best exhibits.

“It is recognition for all of us”.

On receiving the news, the City Planning director, Catalina Velasco, said the award “should make everyone in Bogotá feel very proud, because they have helped to transform the city through a change in mentality.” She said the city’s main challenge in the future is the environment, because it is ranked as the third most polluted city in Latin America.

On his part, the director of the Museum of Bogotá, Luis Colón, assured that “this award is largely due to the effort made by the last five administrations, which have created a new city.”

City Planning, the Museum of Bogotá and Corporación La Candelaria, with support from the Foreign Affairs Ministry, worked jointly to create the exhibition to show the progress made by our city.

The 40 panels of photographs and texts that were on display may be seen after November 30th at the Museum of Bogotá.