ENRIQUE PENALOSA Enrique Penalosa is a leader in the urban

ENRIQUE PENALOSA
Enrique Penalosa is a leader in the urban field, whose vision and proposals have
significantly influenced policies throughout the world. His advisory work concentrates
on sustainability, mobility, equity, public space and quality of life; and the
organizational and leadership requirements to turn ideas into projects and realities.
He is also an accomplished executive, who has achieved positive results in diverse
activities in which he has been involved.
Penalosa has lectured internationally in numerous environmental, urban design and
policy, and university forums and has advised governments in Asia, Africa, Australia,
Latin America and the United States. He is currently a consultant on Urban Vision,
Strategy and Policy. He is President of the Board of the ITDP (Institute for
Transportation and Development Policy) of New York; member of the CITISCOPE
Board of Directors; member of the London School of Economics´ Cities Program
Advisory Board; and a Scholar of the Institute of Urban Research of the University of
Pennsylvania.
In 2014 Penalosa was candidate to the Colombian Presidency.
As Mayor of Bogota, the 7 million inhabitants’ capital of Colombia, Penalosa
profoundly transformed the city, turning it from one with neither bearings, nor selfesteem or hope into an international model for improvements in quality of life,
mobility, equity and sustainability and has been awarded important international
recognitions such as the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale or the Stockholm
Challenge among others.
During his 1998-2001 tenure as mayor –the Colombian Constitution does not allow
for immediate reelection, Mr. Penalosa implemented an environmentally and socially
sustainable model which prioritizes public transport, public pedestrian spaces and
children’s happiness. “In a good city every detail should show respect for human
dignity” Penalosa says.
He created TransMilenio, probably the world’s best bus-based transit system; a
network of bicycle paths; slum improvement projects; a land bank to provide low
income housing with quality urbanism; greenways and pedestrian promenades
through low income neighborhoods; radical improvements to the city center; daily car
use restrictions during peak hours and an annual Car Free Day; formidable libraries
and parks; high quality public schools managed through a innovative scheme by the
best private schools in the country.
Penalosa emphasizes quality of life as the best instrument for competitiveness in the
new century, when attracting highly qualified and creative individuals will be
especially crucial for economic development.
Penalosa holds a BA in Economics and History from Duke University, a Master’s
Degree in Government from the IIAP in Paris and a DESS in Public Administration
from the University of Paris II. He was also a Visiting Scholar at New York University
for 3 years.
PERSONAL
Enrique Penalosa is married to Liliana Sanchez. They have two children, Renata
born in 1986 and Martín Enrique born in 1996.
ACHIEVEMENTS AS MAYOR OF BOGOTA
Among Enrique Penalosa’s achievements as mayor of Bogota are the following:
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Created TRANSMILENIO, probably the world’s best bus system, a BRT
modeled on Curitiba’s, based on exclusive corridors and high capacity buses.
TRANSMILENIO became an international model, visited by hundreds of local
leaders and experts. Dozens of systems in all continents have been created
based on it.
Rejecting proposals to build highways through the city, seven of them
elevated ones, he implemented instead schemes that restricted private car
use, especially during peak hours, and promoted public transport and bicycle
use. Such policies freed funds for investments in schools, nurseries, parks,
libraries, nutrition programs, social housing and others geared to benefit the
poor. He established a system called “Pico & Placa”, which takes 40% of
private cars out of the streets during 4 peak hours every weekday; organized
the first Bogotá Car Free Day and held a referendum through which people
approved a annual Car Free Day in the whole city.
Conceived Bogota’s bicycle path network when no such infrastructure existed
anywhere in America or in European cities such as Paris, London or Madrid
and built more than 250 kilometers of it. The protection and new status
granted to cyclists increased bicycle share of transport modes from 0.2% in
1998 to 7% in 2015. Built more than 60 kilometers of bicycle highways and
greenways through Bogota.
Led a massive effort to improve Bogotá’s marginal neighborhoods’ conditions
through legalization, water and sewage provision, nurseries, formidable
schools, parks, and other infrastructure.
Supported community organization and contracted more than 500 small
public space projects proposed and pre-designed by the communities
themselves. He also promoted community organization through support of
“soft” community activities such as cultural or sports organizations, mainly for
youths and the elderly.
Created METROVIVIENDA, a successful Urban Land Reform and housing
institution which buys undeveloped land adjacent to the city and equips it with
infrastructure and quality urbanism. Private developers then buy large lots
and build housing for low income families subject to price caps and time
limitations.
Conceived and implemented radical improvements to a deteriorated city
center which included: recuperation of the symbolic San Victorino plaza
previously taken by informality, chaos and crime; demolished more than 600
buildings occupying 23 hectares of totally deteriorated neighborhoods only
two blocks away from the Presidential Palace, where drug selling and
consumption and all forms of crime achieved unimaginable levels, to the
point of being a symbol of the State’s failure. There, in the core of the city, he
created the Third Millenium Park. He also turned one of the main downtown
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avenues under severe deterioration into a beautiful and vibrant pedestrian
promenade.
Built nineteen large high quality nurseries for children under five years of age
in the poorest neighborhoods and assured funding schemes for their
sustained operation. He also rebuilt more than a hundred traditional
nurseries.
Increased children enrollment in public schools by more than 180.000, a 34%
increase; totally rebuilt 27 schools and built from scratch 23 new schools in
the poorest neighborhoods. In a radical departure from the heavily unionized
traditional system, entrusted these 23 new schools administration to some of
the best private schools and universities in the country with very positive
results.
Put in place a network of 14,000 computers with INTERNET in all public
schools.
Built three formidable libraries in low income areas and created around them
beautiful parks and a pedestrian and bicycle network. He also built eleven
smaller libraries. These libraries are now visited by more than 400.000
people monthly, mostly children. After leaving City Hall, Penalosa promoted
the construction of a fourth large library by the private sector. The
Santodomingo family was receptive to his appeal and the library is currently
under construction.
Planted more than 100,000 trees.
Built or rebuilt more than 1,100 parks and structured financial schemes for
their adequate maintenance.
Fought a tremendously difficult battle which almost got him impeached to get
cars off the sidewalks, where they had parked for decades without anyone
even questioning such practice. He built hundreds of kilometers of quality
sidewalks, convinced of their importance for a quality city as well as their
democratic symbolism showing that a pedestrian is a citizen as important as
one on a car, something not obvious in developing countries.
Conceived and built two urban lineal parks unlike anything that had
previously existed in the developing world: the 35 kilometer Juan Amarillo
Greenway, which required formidable decontamination efforts of creeks and
wetlands, linking poor and wealthy neighborhoods; and the 23 kilometer
Porvenir Promenade, for pedestrians and bicyclists, through some of
Bogota’s poorest neighborhoods.
In order to achieve the above, Penalosa formed a superb managerial team
with top quality executives who worked in a well aligned team. As an
example of what he achieved in a very short time in team formation in what
previously were slow bureaucratized institutions, he got more than 1500
executives to use a voice mail system in a very dynamic way.
AWARDS
Enrique Penalosa has been awarded the following recognitions:
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In 2014 Enrique Penalosa was selected by The City Fix, Embarq´s web
publication, as the seventh member THE URBANISM HALL OF FAME.
In 2013 Enrique Penalosa was selected one of the Top 100 City Innovators
Worldwide by UBM´s Future Cities
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In 2013 Enrique Penalosa was selected as one of the top 10 members of a
Global Urban Dream Team by the British magazine MONOCLE (Issue 65,
Volume 07, July/August 2013).
In 2009 Enrique Penalosa was selected by Planetizen, the most important
international urban planning website, as fourteenth among the top 100 urban
thinkers in the world and seventh among those still alive;
Penalosa was awarded the 2009 Göteborg Award for Sustainable
Development, one of the world’s most important environmental awards;
In 2003 Penalosa was selected as one of the charter group members of the
Pantheon of Placemakers by New York’s Project for Public Spaces, next to
figures such as Jane Jacobs, James Howard Kunstler and Jan Gehl.
In 2001 was awarded the Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada Prize, highest
recognition from the Bogotá’s City Improvement Society;
In 2001 he was Eisenhower Fellow, awarded by the Eisenhower Foundation
in Philadelphia;
In 1986 received the Colombian National Simon Bolivar Prize for Journalism;
Prize of the Society of Economists of Bogotá and Cundinamarca;
Selected in 1986 as one of the Best Young Colombian Leaders by the Junior
Chamber;
Was awarded with a full Soccer Scholarship during his 4 years at Duke
University.
For projects created and realized under his administration the city of Bogotá has
received the following awards:
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In 2006 Bogota was awarded the Golden Lion, the Venice Architectural
Biennale’s most important prize for successful innovation in cities.
In 2005 Bogotá received the Sustainable Transport Award in Washington,
within the context of the Transport Research Board meeting, for
TransMilenio’s success and the example it had become to the world.
In 2002, 14 of Penalosa’s administration projects ranging from libraries,
parks, schools to pedestrian streets, received special mentions and the 23kilometer long pedestrian avenue “Alameda El Porvenir” conceived by
Penalosa himself received the award to the best urban project in the
Colombian Architectural Biennale.
Alameda El Porvenir was also awarded the 2002 Quito Biennale Prize to the
Best Urban Project. It was also included in a Van Alen Institute exhibit in New
York titled “Inhabiting Infrastructure” in 2003 as a new concept for structuring
urban life around a pedestrian and bicycle thoroughfare.
In 2002 Bogota received the United Nations Development Programme first
Urban Governance Award in Latin America.
Bogota received the Stockholm Challenge Award in 2000 for its Car Free
Day organized and promoted during Penalosa’s administration; the city
received the same prize in 2001 for its Bus Rapid Transit system,
TransMilenio, also created and implemented under his administration.
In 2002 the libraries conceived and built under Penalosa’s tenure, received
the annual prize from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and US$ 1
million.
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In the year 2000, the City of Bogotá was awarded the Biannual National
Colombian Architecture Prize by the Colombian Architects Association for the
parks program, created and implemented under Penalosa. It is the only time
ever it has not been awarded to an architect.
LECTURING AND CONSULTING
In 2014 Enrique Penalosa was one of 22 members of New York´s MTA (Metropolitan
Transportation Authority) Transportation Reinvention Commission which presented
the
report
in
the
following
link
to
Governor
Cuomo:
http://web.mta.info/mta/news/hearings/pdf/MTA_Reinvention_Report_141125.pdf
Enrique Penalosa´ s TED talk
http://www.ted.com/talks/enrique_penalosa_why_buses_represent_democracy_in_a
ction?language=es has been viewed by more than 700,000 people; it has been
translated to 26 languages.
Enrique Penalosa was Advisor to the BMW Guggenheim Lab, a cultural program that
engages a new generation of leaders in architecture, art, science, design, technology
and education in order to work on the challenges of our urban future.
Penalosa has done consulting or lecturing work in cities such as: Mexico City;
Monterrey; Aguascalientes; Cancún; Culiacan; Chihuahua; Guadalajara; Juarez; Los
Cabos; Mazatlán; Mérida; Puebla; Querétaro; Ciudad Victoria in Tamaulipas; Tuxtla
Gutiérrez; Veracruz; Managua; Tegucigalpa; Guatemala City; Villa Nueva,
Guatemala; Villanueva in Guatemala; San Jose of Costa Rica; San Juan of Puerto
Rico; Santo Domingo; Kingston; Panama City; Quito; Guayaquil; Lima; Santiago;
Valdivia; Antofagasta; Belo Horizonte; Blumenau; Campinas; Florianopolis; Joinville;
Porto Alegre; Rio de Janeiro; Sao Paulo; Sorocaba; Salvador de Bahia; Vitoria
(Brazil); Caracas; Maracaibo; Buenos Aires; Asunción; Austin; Denver; Detroit;
Miami; Waco; Chicago; Portland; Fort Lauderdale; Houston; Chicago; San Diego;
San Francisco; Seattle; Oakland; Berkeley; Birmingham (Alabama); Boston; Los
Angeles; Long Beach; Dayton; Cleveland; New York; Philadelphia; Toronto;
Montreal; Ottawa; Quebec City; Vancouver; Bergen in Norway; Almaty in
Kazakhstan; Agra, Ahmadabad, Cochin, Chennai, Coimbatore; Delhi; Hyderabad;
Mumbai; Pune, in India; Kathmandu in Nepal; Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia; Beijing,
Chengdu, Guangzhou, Harbin, Kunming, Lanzhou; Shanghai, Shijiazhuang,
Shenzhen, Yichang; in China; Jakarta, Jogjakarta, Surabaya, Surakarta, Solo City,
Palembang, Pekanbaru in Indonesia; Kuching in Malaysia; Manila and Cebu in
Indonesia; Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi in Pakistan; Bangkok; Ho Chi Minh City;
Hanoi Dakar; Cape Town; Johannesburg; Accra; Kampala; Dar es Salaam; Lagos;
Amsterdam; Copenhagen; Istanbul; Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth
and Hobart in Australia; Tehran in Iran; Prague; Kiev; Moscow, Kazan.
In 2015 Penalosa gave a lecture and directed a workshop provided to high level
officials from the Barcelona Government (Ajuntament) by the London School of
Economics. In 2014 Penalosa presented at the Congress for the New Urbanism in
Buffalo; he was key note speaker at the PRASA (Passenger Railway Agency of
South Africa); in 2013 Penalosa was the guest speaker at the Annual Gala of the
Swedish Association of Architects; in 2012 he was the keynote speaker at the Urban
Land Institute Fall Conference in Denver; keynote speaker at the 2012 Transport
Forum of the Asian Development Bank; main lecturer at the South African Mayors
Meeting held by the World Bank and Capetown University; keynote speaker at the
Chinese Global Forum on Sustainable Urban Development in Shenyang, 2012,
organized by China Mayor´s Association, Beijing Media Corporation and Guangzhou
Daily Corporation; keynote speaker at the Australian Parks Management and
Leadership Conference, keynote speaker at Arkiparc in Istanbul; Penalosa was the
keynote speaker at the 2011 Planning Institute of Australia Congress; guest speaker
at the City Dialogues in Santiago organized by MINVU (National Ministry for Housing
and Urban Development of Chile); lecturer at the Sixth National Urban Development
Policy Congress organized by the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building
and Urban Development; keynote speaker for the launch of the World Bank´s Urban
Partnership Program for Eastern Europe in Viena in 2011; keynote speaker at the
2010 Summit of NACTO, the National Association of City Transportation Officials of
the United States, where Secretaries of Transport of American Cities meet; he spoke
at The Economist Mexico Summit in 2010; he was keynote speaker at the 2010
Alpbach (Austria) Built Environment Symposium; the German Development
Cooperation Agency, GTZ, invited him as keynote speaker at the conference on
Cities, Citizens and Environment for its headquarters staff and project directors from
all over the world; GTZ also invited him to speak before government officials in
Bangkok, Thailand. Parsons Brinckerhoff invited him to speak before his worldwide
senior executives in preparation for the corporation’s launch of its environmental
practice. The Interface for Cycling Expertise (I-ce) from the Netherlands invited him
to speak to a group of urban experts in Amsterdam and Utrecht. The Energy
Foundation invited him to speak at a nationwide Chinese Mayors Forum in
Shanghai. The University of the United Nations invited Mr. Peñalosa to speak in
Tokyo, Japan. He spoke at the 6th International Conference on Urban Renewal in
Vitoria, Spain. He was the keynote speaker at the annual meeting of the Mexican
Chamber of Construction Industry in Aguascalientes, Mexico and the Biannual
Architecture Conference in Panama City. Keynote speaker at the annual conference
of the International Union of Public Transport (UITP) in Madrid and before the
National Public Transport Association of Brazil. He was keynote speaker at the
“Walk 21, 2004” Conference in Copenhagen. He spoke at the Clinton Global
Initiative Annual Meeting in 2006. He has been a member of the jury of the Urban
Land Institute Hines Urban Design Competition for American graduate schools of
urban design. He spoke at the HABITAT 2006 Conference in Vancouver and at the
United Nations HABITAT organization in Nairobi, at ECOEDGE 2008 in Melbourne.
He spoke at the III International Congress of Architecture, City and Energy
(CIBARQ) in Pamplona, Spain. Invited by the Asian Development Bank he
addressed the participants of its Annual 2009 Assembly in Bali. On behalf of the
CDIA (Cities Development Initiative for Asia) in 2008 and 2009 he visited a dozen
Asian cities in order to lecture and give seminars on sustainable transport and meet
with public officials in those cities, as well as those from several others invited to the
seminars. He was Keynote speaker at the Compact Green Cities conference in 2009
in Copenhagen mainly for Danish Government officials. Between 2003 and 2010
Peñalosa was member of the experts’ team of the Urban Age Program of the London
School of Economics and as such participated in project’s conferences in London,
New York, Berlin, Shanghai, Mumbai, Sao Paulo and Istambul.
Penalosa’s work and ideas have been featured in many publications all over the
world such as The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The
International Herald Tribune, Financial Times, New York Sun, UN Chronicle, Urban
Design Magazine, The Economist, Transportation Alternatives, The Washington
Post, Smithsonian Magazine, The Boston Globe, Harvard Gazette, Planetizen, The
Seattle Times, San Francisco Chronicle, KUOW Puget Sound Public Radio Best
Interviews 2007, The Baltimore Sun, US News and World Report, The Toronto
Globe and Mail, Le Devoir of Montreal, The Gazette of Montreal, The Tyee, En
Route (Air Canada Magazine), the WRI FEATURES, ODE Magazine, DOMUS
Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, The Monocle, Birmingham Post ,
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Folha de Sao Paulo, O Estado de Sao Paulo, O
Globo, Chile’s El Mercurio, La Reforma of Mexico, Noroeste of Mexico, MILENIO of
Guadalajara, El Diario of San Salvador, Al Dia of Costa Rica, El Nuevo Día of Puerto
Rico, El Universal and El Nacional of Caracas,El Comercio of Lima; Business
Report, Cape Times, Cape Argus, and Financial Mail of South Africa, the Bangkok
Post, Express India, Times of India, Sun Star of the Philippines, Cebu Daily News,
Life of Guanzhou, China Coach, Harbin Daily, Xinkuai Bao, Xinxi Shibao News,
Yangcheng Evening News, The News of Pakistan, Dawn, AAJ KAL and Daily Times
of Pakistan, Australasian Bus & Coach, Radio National in Australia, among others.
Penalosa is interviewed in Gary Hustwit´s 2011 documentary URBANIZED; in
Jonathan Dimbleby´s 2011 BBC documentary ¨A South American Journey¨. His
ideas have also been the central theme for documentaries such as e2 Series # 209
in PBS Television of the United States KET2 20/1/2008; BBC World´s documentary
¨What a Waste!¨; and Soluciones para el Tránsito in DISCOVERY Channel Latin
America.
Penalosa and his work have also been referred to in books such as the World Watch
Institute State of the World 2007: Our Urban Future, Lester Browns’ Plan B 2.0 and
the UNITED NATIONS POPULATION FUND STATE OF THE WORLD
POPULATION 2007.
Penalosa has lectured at universities such as MIT, New York City College, Harvard
Kennedy School of Government, Harvard School of Design, Princeton, University of
Virginia, University of California at Berkeley, University of California at San Diego,
Clark University, Cornell University, Duke University, Northeastern, University,
Florida Atlantic University, Georgetown University, Georgia Tech University, Portland
State University, Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University,
Parsons School of Design at Arizona State University, University of Pennsylvania,
Temple University, University of Alabama in Birmingham, University of Washington,
Pratt Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Rice University, Columbia University,
New York University, University of Chicago; The Kazakh Academy of Architecture
and Civil Engineering in Almaty, INSEAD in Fontainbleau, France; United Nations
University in Tokyo, University of Accra, University of Nairobi, The London School of
Economics, Oxford University, The Bucerius Law School and the Haffen City
University in Hamburg, Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Van Mieu
University in Hanoi, CEPT (Center for Environmental Planning and Technology) in
Ahmedabad, Indian Institute for Management in Ahmedabad, Anna University in
Chennai, Indian Institute of Techonology Madras in Chennai, Indian Institute of
Technology Mumbai; NED University of Engineering and Technology and the
Institute of Business Administration in Karachi; LUMS (Lahore University of
Management Sciences); Sun Yat Sen University in Guanzhou, Tongji University in
Shanghai, Universidad Catolica of Santiago de Chile, Universidad Austral en
Valdivia, Chile, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella University in Buenos Aires,
Universidad Tecnólogica de Monterrey, Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa,
Universidad Federal de Minas Gerais, Universidad de Sao Paulo, MacKenzie
University in Sao Paulo; Pontificia Universidad Católica de Rio de Janeiro (PUC),
Murdoch University in Perth, Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Institute of
Public Administration of Australia in Brisbane, Griffith University in Brisbane,
University of Sydney, Amirkabir University of Technology in Tehran, Kiev-Mohyla
Academy, Kiev National University of Construction and Architecture (KNUCA) in
Ukraine; Kazan State University for Engineering and Architecture in Tatarstan,
Russia; as well as Universidad de los Andes, Universidad EAFIT and many more in
Colombia.
He has also spoken at organizations such as the World Bank; the Inter-American
Development Bank; The Asian Development Bank; the United Nations HABITAT;
Shell Foundation; the American Planning Association; Boston Public Library; the
Canadian Urban Transport Association; Chautauqua Institution; Council of the
Americas / Americas Society (New York); Lemelson Foundation; Local Government
Commission of California; Sustainability Forum; Cooper Hewitt National Design
Museum in New York; Rails to Trails; Cleveland City Club; Transportation Research
Board; Urban Land Institute (ULI); Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars
and World Resources Institute; Holcim Forum for Sustainable Construction; Danish
Architectural Center; LIFE IN THE URBAN LANDSCAPE conference in Gothenburg
2005; Dublin’s Velocity 2005; Center for Architecture in New York.
Mr. Penalosa has published numerous articles in newspapers and magazines as
well as short books: Capitalism: The Best Option; Democracy and Capitalism:
Challenges of the Coming Century. Articles in Sustainable Transport Sourcebook
subtitled: “The role of Transport in Urban Development Policy”, published by the
German Technical Assistant Agency, GTZ, 2002; La Ciudad Peatonal, published by
Alcaldía de Bogotá, 2000; The Endless City, published by The Urban Age Project of
the London School of Economics and Deutsche Bank’s Alfred Herrhausen Society in
2007, Urban Trans Formation Edited by Ilka & Andreas Ruby in 2008, Century of the
City edited by Neil R.Pierce and Curtis W.Johnson and published by The Rockefeller
Foundation. A book based on a long interview with him by Angel Becassino was also
published under the title: Penalosa and a City 2,600 meters closer to the stars.
CHRONOLOGICAL LOG
1980- Back in Bogota from university, Penalosa headed an innovative greenhouse
vegetables operation for export, the first in his type in Colombia.
1982- Afterwards he worked in economic research at ANIF, the National Association
of Financial Institutions.
1983- As Director of the Cundinamarca Departament (Colombia’s central region)
Planning office he led the elaboration of Cundinamarca’s first regional plan and
achieved the construction of water supply systems in 32 municipalities, despite the
fact that it was not one of the Planning Office tasks.
1984- As Administrative and Commercial Vice-president of the Bogotá Water
Company, Penalosa led a profound change in the Union Agreement, which led to
very important savings for the company. As a curiosity, he substituted all company
typewriters for computers before any large private company in Colombia did so.
1985- As Dean of Business Administration at Externado University, Penalosa totally
reorganized the Department, changing most of the professors, introduced computer
rooms to the university and gave a new priority to learning English. He improved
significantly the positioning of Externado in the Colombian business schools market.
1986- Penalosa was elected to the Bogota City Council but opted instead to become
Economic Secretary to the just elected President of Colombia Virgilio Barco. As such
he participated in the Monetary Board of the Central Bank meetings, the Council of
Ministers, the Economic and Social Policy meetings. From that position Penalosa
was significant in promoting foreign investment in Colombia’s coal mining.
1990-Penalosa then ran for Congress in a radically non-traditional way, outside of
the organized political machineries. Penalosa was the first Colombian politician to go
out to the streets and buses to personally distribute leaflets. Elected to the
Colombian House of Representatives, he led the reform to the foreign exchange
regulations Law.
1992-His Congressional period cut short by a Constitutional Assembly decision and
he ran for mayor for the first time and lost. He went then to head the Colombian
Institute of Housing and Savings, a research arm of the mortgage banks which then
represented almost half of Colombian financial sector assets. Penalosa promoted
legal reforms which led these banks to become universal banks. During this time
Penalosa also wrote articles and was often invited to lecture on mortgage financing
to Latin American audiences, such as the Mexican developers national association
annual assembly.
1995-After running unsuccessfully once more for mayor, Penalosa became
Managing Director of the new Colombia office of Arthur D. Little Consulting, an
international consulting firm with headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. When
he left the firm two years later to run his successful campaign for mayor, Arthur
D.Little had important ongoing contracts, despite the profound recession of the
Colombian economy at that time.
1997-Penalosa was elected mayor of Bogota.
2001-Penalosa left City Hall with the highest approval ratings of any mayor in Bogota
either before or after him, after having transformed the city’s vision and self esteem
with numerous innovative and effective projects. While GALLUP polls prior to his
becoming mayor always showed Bogota citizens who believed “things are getting
worse in the city” to be an overwhelming majority, the situation changed during
Penalosa’s tenure, and a majority of citizens began to perceive that “things are
getting better”; ever since things have stayed that way.
Penalosa went to New York University as a Visiting Scholar, but soon became, an
important lecturer both within the United States and internationally on sustainable
urban planning and development.
OTHER ACTIVITIES
2005-2007 Penalosa wrote a bi-weekly op-ed for PODER, a Colombian magazine.
2006-Penalosa tried unsuccessfully to create a party but his unorthodox
Congressional list, which only included good citizens without political background
misses the threshold by less than 20.000 votes.
2007- Penalosa runs unsuccessfully for re-election as mayor of Bogota but receives
586.000 votes.
2011- Once again Penalosa runs unsuccessfully for mayor of Bogota, receiving
565.000 votes.
From 1982 to 1994 Penalosa wrote a weekly column for EL ESPECTADOR
newspaper, for which he won in 1986 the Simon Bolivar National Journalism Prize.
He has published numerous articles in magazines and newspapers both in Colombia
and internationally.
In the early eighties he also wrote and directed the writing of successful soap operas
for television. He also was editorial head of the television program TESTIMONIO,
which won all economic television journalism prizes for several years.
Penalosa has served on the board of several corporations such as Banco Popular,
LUMINEX, the Bogota Telephone Company and several others. He was a member
of the Board of Trustees of SCI-Arc, the Southern California Institute of Architecture.
For 16 years Penalosa taught at the Externado University and for 1 year at Andes
University in subjects related to Economics, Management, and Urban Planning and
Policy.
Between 2001 and 2004 Penalosa was Visiting Scholar at New York University.