Las Nieves: una descripción de su territorio desde la perspectiva de la calidad de vida y la salud

Abstract

Objective : To describe the territory of the Las Nieves neighborhood from the perspective of quality of life and health. Methodology : This descriptive and narrative study was developed in two phases: the first phase was a documentary study on the history of the neighborhood, the limits of its territory, its public transportation routes and the main infrastructures that compose it. The second phase consisted of a tour through the neighborhood. Based on the data collected during the two phases, the study described what was observed in the neighborhood and its relation to the history and present reality of the sector. Results : The history of Las Nieves goes back to the origins of Bogota; the neighborhood emerged around the church and the pile of water established in this sector and became a site of manufacturing, commercial, and leisure activities—legal and illegal. The deterioration of the neighborhood was only reversed starting in the late twentieth century, thanks to the private initiatives of universities and companies and to public policies aimed at recovering the center of Bogota. Conclusion : Territory and population are two elements that mutually determine each other. Their confluence generates the quality of life and health of the inhabitants, or the lack thereof. Las Nieves is no exception, even more so when it is a neighborhood of great cultural and historical wealth that has shaped its territory in a particular way, which makes it a stronghold for the city of Bogota.