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纽约—上个月，在哥伦比亚麦德林发生了一场令人瞩目的集会。大约22,000人聚集于此参加世界城市论坛（World Urban Forum），讨论城市的未来。论坛中心议题是创造“生活之城”，即促进城市环境下的公平发展。目前，世界大部分人民生活在城市中，到2050年，城市居民比例将超过三分之二。
会议地点本身便具有象征意义：麦德林曾经以贩毒黑帮闻名于世，现在大可跻身于最具创精神城市之列。麦德林的故事可以作为所有城市地区的重要经验。
在20世纪八九十年代，大名鼎鼎的帕博罗·埃斯科巴（Pablo Escobar）等卡特尔老板统治者麦德林的街头、掌握着麦德林的政治。埃斯科巴权力的源泉不仅来自国际可卡因贸易的巨大利润（受美国需求推动），也来源于麦德林和哥伦比亚的极端不平等。麦德林坐落于陡峭的安第斯山谷，在这里，位数庞大的贫民被政府所抛弃，从而为卡特尔提供了大量人力资源。在缺乏公共服务的情况下，埃斯科巴用他的慷慨赢得了麦德林贫民的心——即便他对麦德林实施着恐怖统治。
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