Center for Clean Air Policy : Transit-Oriented Development NAMA in Colombia

Transit-Oriented Development NAMA in Colombia

Final Blogs on the Achievements and Next Steps of the Colombia TOD NAMA

Transforming Urban Development in Colombia

todCCAP worked with leading Colombian stakeholders from 2012 to 2020 to develop and implement a NAMA on Transit-Oriented Development (TOD). The NAMA is a comprehensive urban strategy that integrates sustainable mobility with land use development, and focuses public and private development around transit stations to create neighborhoods where people can safely walk, live, work, shop and play. The ultimate goal of the TOD NAMA is to transform Colombia’s urban development model from automobile-oriented urban sprawl to Transit Oriented Development that maximizes GHG reductions and the sustainable development co-benefits of investments in public transport and housing. By changing long-term land use patterns using the proven GHG-reduction “technology” of the TOD neighborhood (high-quality pedestrian amenities, frequent public transit service, and mixed-use development), the TOD NAMA will cut growth in driving by 25 percent, ensuring greenhouse gas emissions reductions for decades to come.

The NAMA leverages over $10 billion of Colombian investments in public transport, social housing and GHG mitigation, increasing economic, environmental, and social returns. Through catalytic local projects and national policies for replication, the NAMA is projected to reduce annual GHG emissions by 3.6 to 5.5 MMTCO2 by 2040.

The TOD NAMA capitalizes on Colombia’s public-private partnership legislation, and provides additional incentives to develop vibrant transit neighborhoods that will:

CCAP began the effort by initiating a knowledge exchange surrounding best practices for sustainable urban development. CCAP hosted Colombian officials as part of a study tour that targeted areas of transit oriented development such as NoMa, the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor and White Flint. CCAP worked closely with Findeter, the national ministries of transportation, environment, housing, and planning, as well as local governments and real estate developers to develop a NAMA concept with significant potential to implement and finance catalytic transit neighborhoods.

In December 2013 the TOD NAMA was pre-selected by the NAMA Facility during the first round of proposals and began an extensive appraisal process. This included further development of the structure and organization of the NAMA. Implementation started in late 2016 with €14.7M in funding from the NAMA Facility. CCAP served as the Delivery Organization for Technical Component (€3m) from 2016-2020 and the KfW German development bank is Delivery Organization for the Financial Component (€11.7m) through the end of 2023.

IMG_1192At the core of this innovative NAMA was the creation of a new center for sustainable urban development,CIUDAT, Centro para Intervenciones Urbanas de Desarrollo Avanzado al Transporte. Housed within the national development bank, FINDETER. CIUDAT provides cities with technical and financial assistance on TOD implementation, based on locally-specified needs.

CIUDAT is developing TOD pilot projects in the cities of Bogota, Cali, Pasto and Medellin. CCAP guided development of the pre-feasibility studies and KfW will guide CIUDAT on the design, finance, construction and evaluation of the pilot projects. CIUDAT continues to develop a pipeline of quality TOD projects for future implementation.

CIUDAT also serves a policy advisory role to ensure replication of TOD across Colombian cites and harmonization of policies across ministries to advance national policy goals on urban transportation, housing, environment, economic development and social equity. CIUDAT has developed an unprecedented national TOD policy framework to guide future urban development in Colombia. CIUDAT has also developed a comprehensive TOD Monitoring and Evaluation system to track implementation progress, improve performance and establish the capacity to assess long-term impacts.

CIUDAT is governed by a Board of Directors with high-level representatives from the national Ministries of Housing, Transportation, Environment, Energy, Finance and the National Planning Department. The CIUDAT Technical Advisory Committee (made up of Board member organization staff) meets regularly to support NAMA implementation and policy development.

See below for more detailed information on the various elements of the Colombia TOD NAMA and the results of CCAP and CIUDAT’s efforts.

Related Resources:

TOD Colombia NAMA Webinar:

Dec 15,  2020

Dec 16,  2020

Nov 18,  2020

Colombia TOD NAMA: Final Products

Pilot Projects

Policy Recommendations

Monitoring & Evaluation Toolkit

Recoleccion Informacion

Model Emisiones