“Bogotá seems to be the result of a multitude of urban planning initiatives superimposed on top of each other.”

Santiago Gamboa grew up in a small provincial city called Bogotá and left when he was still a teenager. With each successive return, he discovered a metropolis in the making—bustling, cosmopolitan, a burgeoning regional capital almost in spite of itself. How did this metamorphosis come about? 

A city in the clouds, born out of fantasies of El Dorado, Bogotá rose to global prominence thanks in part to the advent of air travel. Political upheaval in northern South America, along with Colombia’s complex relations with its neighbors, also brought about a series of economic and demographic transformations. But it wasn’t until the end of the twentieth century that the city became the one we see today, where culture is thriving, the food scene is flourishing, the birdwatching is superb, and the rent is high. 

Bogotá is an intimate inquiry into the metamorphosis of a city, led by a native who’s spent the majority of his life looking in from the outside. Weighing the impacts of geography, colonialism, capitalism, and crime, and leaving space for the commentary of foreign visitors over the years, Gamboa sees in his hometown a city that is no Paris, no Tokyo, no Buenos Aires—but that remains worthy of exploration and affection.

Translated from the Spanish by Howard Curtis

Part of Travel with a Writer, The Walking Tree's global literary travel series pairing acclaimed writers with the cities and places they know intimately. Combining literary essays and fiction, original infographics, curated walks, and beautiful design, each volume is a literary companion to place, designed to be read in a single sitting. Together, the series forms a growing literary atlas of the world.