Analysing (In)Justice in the Interplay of Urbanisation and Transport: The Case of Agrarian Extractivism in the Region of Urabá in Colombia

Building on the review of urban and transport (in)justice literature mentioned above and mobilising the analytical frame, the following sections focus on the dynamics of transport and urbanisation and the production of transport (in)justice, related to the historical practice of agrarian extractivism in the region of Urabá in Colombia as a case study. Agrarian extractivist practices in this region are known for their distinctive spatial features of agricultural activities, which had suffered huge challenges related to poor transport infrastructures and urban development. Income, development and infrastructural growth are distributed unequally amongst the four main municipalities that compose the region (Turbo, Apartado, Carepa and Chigorodo). The case study shows how transport planning and urbanisation were instrumental for agrarian extractivist industries in this region and contributed to the production of transport (in)justice. Transport planning mainly addressed the functioning of agrarian extractivist car-oriented transport systems and users, rather than forms of walking, cycling and collective transport which are in the interests of less privileged transport participants.

The case study analysis was built on semi-structured interviews with key actors, government reports, policy documents and reports, historical data, scientific articles and books, laws and regulations, research carried out by students, minutes of meetings, press articles, websites, site visits, participant observation in everyday practices of mobility, seminars and informal talks. The mapping of transport infrastructures and urbanisation also played an important role. The recollection and analysis of these data lead us to the identification of the relevant actors, relevant social groups (not just public ones) and techno-political frames that embody and structure the (techno-politics and institutional dynamics of the) infrastructure—urban form nexus and the ways transport (in)justice is produced in the interaction of these.

During the site visits, the following interviews and mapping of the stakeholders involved in the urban and transport planning were done.

State bodies: –

Planning secretariat – Urabá

Private actors: –

General manager – Banacol

Academic institutions: –

Director URBAM (Urban and environmental research group EAFIT University)

To elaborate the analysis, Section 3.2 first summarises the general characteristics of extractivism, as a background for the following steps. Section 3.3 addresses the production of transport (in)justice throughout the extractivist practices in this region throughout history by exploring transport dynamics in the interactions of actors, relevant social groups and the concrete extractivist techno-political frames. Section 3.4 summarises the socio-political nature of transport (infrastructure) and concomitant transport injustices in the overall extractivist regime in Urabá.

The analysis is further summarised in Table 1, which positions the empirical findings against the analytical categories of actors and relevant social groups, techno-political frames and urban, rural and transport (in)justices, both for the dominant extractivist regime of Urabá explored as a case study and the systemic conflicts embedded into it. The table supports the explorations in the following sections.

In Latin American history, the agrarian extractivist sector has always played an essential role in shaping each period's economic, social, political and urban development (Bretón, Martínez 2017). This development has been pushed by opportunities to make surprising profits by extracting and selling agricultural products for which there is a strong demand on the world market (Petras, Veltmeyer 2014). However, this history has also been inseparably related to extractivism (Burchardt, Dietz 2014). The Colombian agricultural sector, specifically the banana industry, is an example of this agrarian extractivist development model, since it involves extracting and exporting particular agricultural goods. Two contradictory opinions on this developmental model emerged for most of the 20th century in Colombia: (1) it was considered as crisis-prone, politically unstable and poverty-reinforcing, and (2) it was highlighted as a model full of positive effects, such as stabilising rates of growth, increasing direct foreign investment, expanding the middle classes and reducing poverty (Burchardt, Dietz 2014).

Extractivism refers to the activities or the process of extracting large quantities of natural resources destined for export. These resources are sold on the world market as there is a lack of demand in the country of origin. Extractivism is not limited to mineral or oil extraction, it is also present in farming, forestry and even fishing (Acosta 2013). The first historical phase of extractivism in Latin America is colonial exploitation, which extends from the conquista to the independence of the colonial countries in the early 19th century (Burchardt, Dietz 2014). Yet, around the late 1990s this activity has become an important economic and developmental model, since it has evolved in the course of neoliberal strategies for which stabilising growth rates, increasing direct foreign investment and reducing poverty were key for development to occur (Burchardt, Dietz 2014). The debate on extractivism began with the classification given by the social scientist Eduardo Gudynas who categorises extractivism referring to three basic dimensions: (1) volume of resources extracted; (2) intensity of the extraction; and (3) resources destined for export (Gudynas 2013). Therefore, Gudynas’ theory is basically related to specific characteristics in terms of quantity, intensity and destination.

As agriculture can be described as a form of extractivism, agrarian extractivism has been defined as agriculture oriented towards capital-intensive monocultures, which requires specific technologies based on the development of infrastructure (transport, housing, energy, etc.) and certain legal and financial frameworks (Gudynas 2013; Göbel 2014). It is a developmental model that, instead of being driven by principles of social and environmental well-being, is oriented to continuously maximising productivity, profits and efficiency (Mol 2017). Generally, harvests produced in the region of cultivation tend to have little or no processing, meaning that the additional value of production that results from the transformation of raw materials is done outside the region where the agrarian industry is situated (Mol 2017; Grigera, Álvarez 2013). Ben Mackay contributed to the discourse on agrarian extractivism with a more recent characterisation of certain forms and modes of agricultural production. He studied Bolivia's soy complex through analysing four interlinked dimensions of agrarian extractivism: (1) large volumes of materials extracted destined for export with little or no processing; (2) value-chain concentration and sectoral disarticulation; (3) high intensity of environmental degradation; and (4) deterioration of labour opportunities and/or labour conditions (McKay 2017). He argues that agricultural activity that involves these four interlinked dimensions is better characterised as agrarian extractivism, rather than industrial agriculture due to the very social, economic and environmental extractive dynamics (McKay 2017). Thus, Mackay's theory explores a bit more into the recent extractivist dynamics, dealing with the impact of agrarian extractivism on rural development.

As demonstrated so far, extractivism seems to be more than a simple activity of a particular modality of the colonial economy (Martín 2017). It is also a developmental model related to the expression of political dominance that condenses huge conflicts and challenges of cultural and socio-political dimensions (Martín 2017; Burchardt, Dietz 2014). However, it is evident that such phenomena cannot be only related within economic structures or political institutions (Martín 2017). Instead, more attention should be paid to the impact on urban development. For instance, literature highlights how extractivism has a tendency of fragmentation, producing functionally specific, distinct spaces corresponding to the spatial translation of the social division of labour (housing, leisure, transport, production, and so forth) (Arboleda 2016; Lefebvre 2009c [1980]). Extractivism has made dramatic impacts on innumerable places and ecosystems around the world, including indigenous territories, peasant communities, administrative divisions such as municipalities or departments, or protected areas, (Munck, Wise 2018), rendering a splintered pattern of landscapes of extraction with their rhizomes of highways, railways, pipelines, satellite towns, power lines and heavy machinery (Arboleda 2016; Merrifield 2014). For instance, Gilmore (1976) referred to ‘boom towns’ as rapidly growing settlements resulting from the exploitation of natural resources. Susskind and O’Hare (1977) complemented by identifying eight social and economic components of these territories: (1) societal fragmentation, (2) inadequate provision of public services, (3) shortage of goods and services (especially of housing), (4) inflationary trends resulting from rising land prices, (5) growing tax deficit, (6) excessive use of available resources, in particular water resources, (7) aesthetic decay of the settlement, (8) fundamental changes related to excessive population growth rates (Susskind, O’Hare 1977; Braumann, Stadel 1999).

In the following section, the paper will delve deeper into the particular transport dynamics within the concrete extractivist techno-political frames as they evolved throughout history in the region of Urabá in Colombia, in order to better understand the concomitant production of transport challenges and injustices.

In Colombia, the history of extractivism started in colonial times when the colonies had to provide Spain with raw materials (Parsons, Evans 1996). The extensions of the colonial possessions during that time were based on the specificity of the natural environments. From the coastal areas towards the interior, colonisers were in search of wealthier regions suitable for agriculture. Given the variety of environments and possessions during that time and the opening for navigation of the Magdalena River in 1850, the colonisers structured economic activities and trade in the colonies in different ways. Linking the agriculture of the interior to the world economy, they consolidated the production of the main products of the country: tobacco, cocoa, coffee, sugar cane and banana. As a result, in 1835 agricultural exports constituted 8.64% of the total external sales, and increased to 64.78% in 1855 (Portafolio 2010). Mining during this time was a minor activity and it was not yet established for export.

In Colombia the term extractivism is commonly used and related to mining but not to agriculture. Therefore, the term agrarian extractivism is more linked to the recent neo-extractivism than to the historical methods of extraction. Consequently, governmental regulations are mostly related to mineral and oil extraction rather than to agricultural extraction. Colombia has not had a long mining tradition like other countries in Latin America, such as Chile, Bolivia and Peru. However, assuming its importance as a developmental model, in the year of 1969, the state government nationalised all the mining industries (Ley 20, 1969), establishing the principles of absolute ownership over the subsoil, and declaring that the mining industry is of public utility and social interest of the nation (Duarte 2012). Over 20 years later, during the neoliberal governance of the country, and considering the importance of mining extraction for economic and political development in Latin America, the Colombian government established a model which promoted privatisation, liberation and direct foreign investment as means to guarantee social and economic growth (Vélez-Torres, Ruiz-Torres 2015).

After the political constitution of 1991, four political milestones characterised the neoliberal mining regulation promoted in Colombia. First, mining institutions were restructured during the 1990s (Decreto 2119, 1992; Decreto 2152, 1999; Duarte 2012). Second, a new mining code was created in 2001 (Ley 685), in which the functions of the state were limited to facilitate and supervise mining activities. Third, in the early 2000s the existing public mining companies CARBOCOL and MINERCOL were liquidated (Decreto 520, 2003; Decreto 254, 2004). And finally, a fiscal system was proposed which extended the perks to foreign mining companies (Ley 1530, 2012) (Vélez-Torres, Ruiz-Torres 2015). Still, these regulatory reforms did not guarantee the opening of the mining frontiers in Colombia. The day the ex-president Alvaro Uribe Velez (2002–2010) offered military security to foreign investors marked the growth of investment in the country (Vélez-Torres, Ruiz-Torres 2015).

In order to understand the structure and morphology of the region of Urabá in a better way, the remainder of this section re-traces the urbanism of the territory. This approach will provide evidence on the importance of the infrastructural design for extractivism in the region and how this produces transport (in)justice throughout its historical transformation.

The first period covers the time from 17th to 19th century. The physical geography, rich natural resources and climate, marked the urbanity of the territory. Since the Spanish colony, the main agricultural production included first rubber and later nuts and tropical wood. During this first period, Goodyear (tire and rubber company from Akron, Ohio) started processing and exporting 80 tons of rubber per year (Parsons, Evans 1996). This product was the most valuable item in the list of exports of the country during this time. However, the excessive exploitation of rubber tappers, eager to extract the last drop of latex, lead to a huge reduction and even disappearance of this rich natural resource (Parsons, Evans 1996).

During this time, road infrastructure was not planned in the region. Consequently, horses were one of the few options for easier transport of goods on rough lands with no roads. However, the region also relied on internal and coastal waterways for shipping internationally. The first two important settlements in the region between the years 1840 and 1878 were the municipalities of Turbo (port town) and Chigorodó. Both originated from the promising extractive potential and port in the gulf, the intense maritime trade, commercial activities and the opening for navigation of the Atrato River in 1810 (Osorio 2006).

In the year 1846, the national government decided to propose a road to link part of the Urabá region with the gulf in order to make the export and import of goods more efficient, as extractivism had become a developmental model for the region. El camino de occidente or the path to the west was the first primary road connection in the region designed by the English engineer Juan H. White in 1886 (Fig. 2) (Ortega, Vidal 2010). The success of this infrastructural design in the following years established the foundation for the later economic growth of the territory, as this axis structured the region and turned out to be the basis for the future urban settlements of Urabá.

Fig. 2

The second period includes the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At the time, the tagua palm (Phytelephas spp.) began to replace the rubber tree. The egg size walnuts (ivory nuts or vegetable ivory) were harvested by rural inhabitants in the frequently flooded extensive palm forests of Urabá. Germany was the first country to start importing ivory nuts, and quickly became aware of the potentials of this new and interesting raw material. Vegetable ivory became a popular material for making various types of buttons, toys, cane handles and jewellery (Barfod 1989). The first export of tagua from Colombia was registered in 1845, some 20 years before Ecuador also became an important exporter of this product (Parsons, Evans 1996).

In terms of transport, the tagua was transported from the sites of collection upstream along the rivers in canoes to centres of commerce on the coast (Barfod 1989). Transport to the United States was nearly monopolised by a British company named Pacific Steam Navigation Co. and by the Pacific Railroad Co. in Panama, which transported the cargo across the Isthmus of Panama by train (Barfod 1989).

In 1925, a rough estimate of the production of Tagua in Colombia was made. By observing an average distance of six metres between the mature tagua palms in fructification and single individual production, it was deduced that the total annual production was 2.25 metric tons of ivory nuts from one hectare of a natural population (Barfod 1989). For many years, Urabá was the second world producer of tagua after Ecuador. It was projected that if the region was well-exploited, it could supply the total demand of the European market (20,000 tons). However, with the introduction of plastic buttons after the First World War, trade decreased rapidly.

Tagua exploitation led to the mobilisation of entire groups of families along the rivers and mountains of the region, establishing new urban and rural settlements. In this second period, a new municipality emerged, Apartadó (in the year 1907), which is today the most important municipality of the region of Urabá (Fig. 3). It can be readily understood that this urban settlement was established basically because of the extractive activity related to tagua, and the existing road infrastructure (El camino de occidente) built years before since it was a central hub within the agricultural lands as well as a vital crossing point of secondary roads. However, the emergence of the municipality of Apartadó can also be associated with geopolitical and economic factors linked to this period. Rural peasants during this time had to migrate to these agrarian extractivist areas in search of better opportunities, since they were confronted with huge challenges related to unemployment and lack of basic services in their rural areas (Tovar 2001). The migrant influx during this period led to an embryonic market for informal settlements in the existing urban areas. Nonetheless, the attention in this region was mainly focused on agricultural extraction, rather than on urban sprawl. Therefore, Apartadó is a clear example of an (in)just development, supported by urban and transport planning, which mainly focused on specific aspects of extractive industries without common benefits neither for vulnerable citizens nor for the region as a whole.

Fig. 3

In 1909, during the presidency of Rafael Reyes Prieto (1904–1909), the Colombian government donated some land to promote industrial colonisation to United Fruit Company

The United Fruit Company had during this time the absolute monopoly of the production and export of banana throughout Latin America. Specifically, in Colombia the company began its production in the Magdalena region. It settled in the Urabá region only until 1960. United Fruit Company later became United Brands Company in 1970, and in 1985 it became Chiquita Brands International.

The third period, starting from the early 20th century, is characterised by productive activities based on banana and cotton. During that time, the economy of the region was still very fragile since a large number of rural peasants that immigrated to the region did not have a steady job. Therefore, this local population was likely to be without an income and more likely to rely on informal, survivalist strategies. However, the arrival of the new agricultural industries and the concentration of labour brought hope to these local inhabitants in economic terms. By reaching a higher production yield, the agricultural landscapes revealed a huge potentiality mainly for foreign companies in the region (Parsons, Evans 1996). As has been mentioned previously, the priority during this time was mainly focused on the rise of agrarian extractivist industries rather than on meeting the needs of the local population. As such, as the preference leaned towards infrastructures related to agrarian extractivism, the benefits produced in the banana region are a good example of (in)justice in transport. From the beginning itself, traditional planning in the region refrained from coordinating the existing urban, transport and traffic dynamics, which led to the design of infrastructural projects that propagated an unfair distribution of accessibility.

As agricultural industries were at first promising in every sphere for the local population, this led to the mobilisation and internal migration of entire groups of families to these productive rural areas for short and long periods of time. Therefore, the concentration of rural clusters in the agricultural landscapes was much more evident during this phase (Fig. 4). It led to changes in the rural landscape as some specific areas accommodated different human behaviours and activities for land-use practices. For instance, for every nine months which is the harvesting period of the banana production, families of approximately five members were employed, who arrived and settled in temporary shelters. These settlements were established on private properties on a large scale, where tenure was contested and unclear for families who settled for long-term periods. It is therefore evident that the region of Urabá has been excluding a low class population from the qualities and benefits of urban life, restricting citizens from the right to inhabit, appropriate and demand inclusion to their city and making them dependent on private foreign companies in many ways.

Fig. 4

Tropical wood extraction was also important during this period in Colombia. However, there is no detailed data on the exploitation of this product in Urabá. Still, it is known that transport for export happened by means of the existing land and water infrastructures of the region. Tropical wood was for example transported by El camino de occidente or the Atrato River, crossing the Atlantic to get to Philadelphia and New York (Parsons, Evans 1996). These infrastructures not only promoted the export of products abroad, but also determined the growth and agricultural development of the territory. Consequently, the aforementioned natural and artificial infrastructures of the region resulted in the establishment of important precedents for the future urban and rural growth of the region.

During the fourth period (mid-20th century), the road to communicate Urabá with Medellín (La vía al mar, see also Toro López et al. 2020) was constructed. Although initially the project was promoted and financed by the local government (Antioquia), the national government wanted to be part of it and finally had an important economic input. Three different proposals were presented and finally the local government accepted the plan of the engineer Gonzalo Mejia. The construction began in the year 1940 and was completed after 20 years. While this artery was in construction, Carepa emerged as a new municipality in 1950 (Fig. 5). This settlement was established similarly as the municipality of Apartadó. Geopolitical and economic factors linked to this period led to its emergence. Rural peasants lacking sufficient basic services such as schools, medical centres and commercial centralities in their territories, provoked a constant migration of its population to the agricultural land related to the exploitation of cotton and bananas. These immigrants settled on the main infrastructural axis (La vía al mar) in order to have better routes of communication with other municipalities. Therefore, one can tell that the municipality of Carepa was settled on an already infrastructurally (in)just environment as it replicates the priorities of urban and transport planning in a region in which principal objectives were to provide a better connection of the agrarian extractivist region with Medellín (capital of the department) and the main production and consumption centres of the country.

Fig. 5

During that period the productive activities in the region were based on banana and cotton, however there was more optimism in the production of cotton, since there was an economic boom related to the textile industry in Medellín. Therefore, the political supporters of La vía al mar were in favour of the exploitation of cotton in the territory as the infrastructure supporting export-oriented industries guaranteed a major role in the economy of Medellín as well as a better connection to the coast.

La vía al mar brought five essential outcomes to the territory. (1) This artery was the pillar to link the inferior local feeder roads, performing a network of primary and secondary connections, which constituted a lower level in the traffic hierarchy (local transport). Therefore, La vía al mar was the backbone to link the local mobility networks of the municipalities with the primary traffic connection of the region of Urabá. It allowed the connection and flows of transport between the productive landscapes and the commercial areas of the city. (2) It operated as a conductor of heavy transit and port traffic to the centre of the country. (3) It functioned as the urban backbone, being a collector and connector, concentrating the main flows of people and services sustaining the urban cores. (4) It absorbed urbanisation and shaped the morphology of the existing urban clusters, as the main municipalities of the region grew parallel to this new infrastructure. Besides, it absorbed all the commercial activities and structured the city's largest public space. (5) It benefited the transport of agricultural production of the territory, as it supported the consolidation of the banana industry, providing a higher monocrop productivity of banana production.

As such, La vía al mar was planned and built focusing mainly on the performance of the transport systems related to agrarian extractivism and ways to improve it, without much thought of the needs of inhabitants actually using the system.

During the fifth period (late 20th century), the most important land reform in the region of Urabá occurred. The consolidation of the banana industry was a reality (1960). At this point, the goal was to increase the efficiency and capacity of the agricultural landscape. Therefore, in the mid-1980s, the region produced an annual average of 60,000 tons of bananas. In 1990, this quantity was multiplied by four, reaching more than 270,000 tons. By the year 1991, banana crops employed over 9,000 people (Morón 2000; Grajales 2011).

This growth laid a solid foundation for the Urabá agricultural sector (Bucheli 2005; UN 1993). The spatial consequence of this planning and implementation process brought new infrastructures to the existing agricultural areas completely changing the morphology of the rural territory (Fig. 6). The success of the banana industry sector in Urabá brought a lot of investment and huge agrarian industrial projects, constituting today a prosperous model of the economic history of Colombia (Agudelo 2011). However, the banana industry only benefited a limited group of people of the existing international trading companies (Banacol, Uniban, Augura, etc.), given that there was not a shared prosperity neither a respect of the community needs and the environment. The agricultural landscape benefited from the ending of the construction of La vía al mar during this period. This artery increased the region's proximity to many places, not just within the territory but also to the centre of the country. Therefore, it was the ideal infrastructure for distribution, collection and related agricultural functions. The newly developing industries and infrastructures supported industrialisation and economic prosperity in Urabá, but the consolidation of the banana industry also brought (in)justice to the region. La vía al mar provided advantages to specific actors, and at the same time disadvantaged other communities through transport decision-making. Additionally, this new regional infrastructure pushed the creation of different landmarks in the territory. Clearly, the new extractive agricultural clusters, urban growth and transport defined some nodes, which currently serve as reference points in the territory. These landmarks started developing their own identity and specificity, and established the foundations for the later urban settlements of the region.

Fig. 6

The sixth period includes the late 20th century and early 21st century, characterised by the disturbing presence of the guerrilla and paramilitaries in the region. The emergence of these armed groups in the territory started when rural unions of the banana industries began asking for better wages and working conditions. Since the United Fruit Company was attempting to extend its territorial control, expelling the colonos

The word colonos refers to local farmers with banana cultivations who used to pay rent or lease of a farm to be able to cultivate it and take advantage of it.

Also, during that time, a strong influence of the United States in Colombia's political economy was evident. The value of North American investments, mostly in agrarian export projects, petroleum and gold extraction, rose from US$4 million in 1913 to US$250 million in 1929 (Thomson 2011) (Fajardo 1983).

In addition, drug income at the time fuelled the purchase of millions of hectares of land. Therefore, armed groups were always fighting for control over territories to trade arms, illegal drugs and existing trafficking routes (Castilla 2001). For this reason, guerrillas and paramilitary groups settled in the banana fields of the region of Urabá. As the region has principal route connections to access Panama and the United States, armed groups were continuously fighting for the control of this territory. The violence amongst them and the existing social inequalities on the region forced the inhabitants of these rural areas to migrate to the main urban settlements along La vía al mar (Fig. 7) (Lair 2000). Also, other political factors had an important effect on forced displacement in the region, for example, related to a shift in land tenancy and use (ICTJ 2009), where historically different government interventions aiming to foster land reforms have been ineffective due to corruption within government institutions, for instance, the Government of Colombia de-emphasised land reform and shifted focus to rural development through agribusiness. For instance, Law 200 (1936) aimed to redistribute empty land by protecting tenant farmers’ rights; however, landowners responded by evicting tenant farmers indiscriminately. Small farms during that time were replaced by large-scale agrarian extractivist infrastructures. Consequently, three to seven million hectares of land in Colombia have been illegally appropriated as a result of displacement (ICTJ 2009).

Fig. 7

Migration and violence led to serious social problems in the region, which have not been completely solved to this day (PBI 2012; Higuita 2018). The unforeseen migration process to the urban clusters was not projected. It exceeded the absorption capacities of the cities, given the lack of inadequate infrastructures to support their essential needs. Urban clusters somehow became concentrations of unplanned settlements. Illegal settlements started to emerge in protected areas and areas risking flooding, creating inequity and giving rise to high concentrations of poverty. These problematics were a disastrous force that affected the configuration of the urban form.

For almost 60 years, the region of Urabá was seen as a dominant productive area in Colombia. However, this productivity was achieved and concealing existing serious power differences and inequalities. As such, the region is a clear example of the (in)just city, which is constantly generating structures of power, leading to the generation of uneven opportunities and (in)just distribution of resources, and supported by transport infrastructure and its planning.

After 40 years of confrontations, neither the Colombian government nor the guerrillas or paramilitary forces have achieved their objectives. The conflict transformed the economic dynamics of the country, particularly in the Urabá region. Currently the region is recovering from the wartime devastation. Violence has decreased dramatically in the last decade as the Colombian government and FARC, one of the biggest guerrillas, reached a comprehensive peace agreement after almost four years of peace negotiations (Herbolzheimer 2016).

As such, this seventh period can be defined as a post conflict stage. La vía al mar was an ambitious intervention to connect Medellín with the region of Urabá. It was also an answer to the needs and demand of industry and a crucial instrument in the territorial development strategy. However, in the context of rapid economic globalisation, this infrastructural network became insufficient mainly for agrarian extractivist industries, contributing to the increase in traffic congestion specifically in urban areas and to excessive utilisation demand which is beyond the capacity of the road. The existing size of the road network was not adequate for the transport flows of the consolidated extractive industry (MT 2005). Moreover, this led to a huge reduction of speed, disrupting the transport dynamics of the territory. The urban areas quickly became a transit zone and connecting point between divergent local routes. More and more concentrations of informal commercial activities along the public space of the highway resulted in overcrowding of places.

Today, there is a sense of hope again for the inhabitants of Urabá (Higuita 2018). The region is preparing for a process of globalisation, and an enormous boost of investment from new actors is stimulating change in the territory. The construction of a multipurpose port and logistic area in the municipality of Turbo has been proposed to the Port concession of Colombia and the National Infrastructure Agency (ANI). The French container transport and shipping company Terminal Link, partnered with PIO S.A. (Puertos, Inversions y Obras S.A.), an experienced local developer of the Colombian Pacific coast. The French firm would operate the port once it is built, as it is a globally operating company. This multipurpose port is expected to export and import large amounts of cargo, as it is located 40% closer (compared with other ports in the country) to the main production and consumption centres of the country (Bogota, Medellín, Coffee area, etc.). Additionally, thanks to the recent expansion of the Panama Canal (2016), which triples the size of ships that can travel the canal and allows hosting 98% of the world's shipping, Colombia will increase its commercial traffic and its shipping transport market. Therefore, the region is currently positioning for a huge process of globalisation and therefore, an extensive urban renewal (Fig. 8). La vía al mar is currently in a process of restoration and some new Structure Plans for the region have been conceived (URBAM 2014). The government is hoping for an economic growth between 15% and 20% over the next 3 or 4 years (Loaiza 2015). However, there is a growing concern about the impact of this enormous infrastructural project in the context of economic, social and urban development of the region. The fear is that the new foreign investments will lead to a new stage of extractivism, replicating the challenges, conflicts and injustices related to transport and urban development, given that the needs of local inhabitants have been consistently ignored, and on the contrary, much attention has been paid to the growth of the extractivist industries. As a response to these existing and expected (in)justices, new underground illegal activities have already been started to flourish in Urabá (Moreno 2018).

Fig. 8

Using the basic categories of extractivism mentioned above and based on Gudynas (2013) and McKay (2017), this final case study section summarises the socio-politics of transport (infrastructure) in the overall agrarian extractivist regime in the region of Urabá. Three interlinked scopes of this regime are explored: (1) large volumes of agricultural goods extracted and destined for export; (2) uneven urbanisation processes; and (3) extraction focused transport developments.

The first dimension of agrarian extractivism in the region of Urabá, concerns the volume of agricultural goods extracted and destined for export with little processing. The actual national productivity of banana in Colombia is low in comparison with other countries of Latin America such as Ecuador, Costa Rica and Guatemala. According to the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), Colombia is the fifth world banana exporter, reaching a production of 98.4 million boxes in 2017 (DANE 2017). Banana is the third-most agricultural product exports from the country, coffee being the first with 7.8% (of the total export), flowers second with 4.0% and then banana with 3.1% (OEC 2014). Therefore, agricultural volumes of banana production are large relative to other agricultural exports of the country. In terms of processing, the banana is semi-processed, basically consisting of cutting, packaging and transporting the product for commercialisation.

The in-country processing can be identified as a value-added component of the production process which can positively impact sectoral articulation, creating employment through inter-sectoral linkages (McKay 2017). However, the banana production does not require any important in-country processing. It is a manual process that starts from the cultivation, then harvesting and finally the selection of the product. With a highly organised and integrated process focused on economies of scale and low labour costs, it allows a competitive advantage in the export chain. Economically, banana production in the region generates 16,500 direct jobs and 49,500 indirect (Augura 2015), in a region that has 561,673 inhabitants within its most populated municipalities (Augura 2015).

The high volume of banana production, semi-processed and destined for export represents important challenges related to mobility, as freight transport is characterised by huge challenges related to traffic, congestion, road damage and a lack of safety for smaller modes of transport. For instance, in the municipality of Apartadó

Apartadó is the principal municipality of the region of Urabá.

Fig. 9

These complications and problems do not lead to favouring connection between municipalities, on the contrary, they cause separation and generate conflicts between them. The high volume of banana production, semi-processed and destined for export, represents specific industrial requirements that still need interventions in order to be defined as an efficient agrarian extractivism.

The second scope of agrarian extractivism in the region of Urabá concerns uneven urbanisation processes in the region. As banana extraction industries have stimulated an important migration process to the productive rural and urban lands, urban expansion has been evident. The urban population, especially migrant agricultural workers and temporary urban residents are commonly settling in ‘illegal’ constructions on urban peripheries. These places can be physically seen as rural villages or, as was mentioned above, ‘edge cities’ (Shannon, Smets 2010), sprawling migrant enclaves which lack urban infrastructure and services (Photo 1).

Photo. 1

Uneven urbanisation processes are common in the region as there is an absence of linkages between other sectors of the economy which complement banana production, agricultural industrialisation and urbanisation. For instance, currently in the municipality of Apartadó there is no capacity to manage unexpected growth, and particularly unforeseen informal neighbourhoods which started to emerge in the periphery. Consequently, several temporary shelters were constructed in protected and risk areas. The lack of proper sanitation, electricity, clean water supply and other basic services addressing human needs quickly became a critical challenge for the development of the municipality. Therefore, both the banana extractive industries and the government are short in providing enough social benefits, which presents undesirable consequences related to urban sprawl and violence.

The third scope of agrarian extractivism in Urabá concerns the transport developments related to the agricultural extractive industries and the lack of support for local development. This refers to the transport infrastructures of the region, existing and under construction, mainly supporting extraction and thus characterised by the absence of infrastructures for pedestrians and permission to use for freight transport in city centres leading to an increase in the risk of pedestrian injury. This is a paradox, since the origin-destination survey made by the National University shows that pedestrians in Apartadó constitute the most used mode of transport (the walk is the most popular within the municipality) with 51%, followed by public transport with 18%, motorcycles with 17%, special transport with 6%, bicycles with 4% and private vehicles with 4% (UNAL, 2018). Therefore, all the main investments on infrastructure in the region are done for the 39% of the motorised transport systems (public transport, motorcycles and vehicles).

Pedestrian safety measures are claimed to be essential in transport planning as they improve walking environments and contribute to urban renewal, local development, social cohesion, improved air quality and reduction in the harmful effects of traffic noise (Committee on Injury, Violence 2009). However, in the region of Urabá, pedestrians and cyclists are not a priority. On the contrary, new transport infrastructures in the region are designed to prioritise freight transport in order to support the banana extractive companies

The most benefited corporations are the international trading companies Uniban and Banacol based in the region which are part of the banana association of Colombia (Augura).

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Fig. 10

The transport developments in the region of Urabá represent ideal infrastructures for the extractive agricultural industries. As such, they do not represent any support or benefit to local developments. Infrastructures are planned based on the efficiency of freight fleets over pedestrians and bicyclists, which is debatable in urban contexts where walking and cycling are important modes of transport.