AGUA, ENERGÍA Y TELÉFONO A COMIENZOS DEL SIGLO XX EN CALI

Abstract

The development of modern cities is indissolubly linked to the creation of public-services enterprises that meet urban residents’ growing needs. Urban successes depend greatly on the efficient provision of services. The designation of Santiago de Cali as capital of a new department, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, led it to hastily undertake this process. This case study reveals that private firms specialized in water and sewer, electricity, and telephone services. Services such as cleaning and waste management, slaughterhouses, and open-air markets [galerías] were public and in the hands of the municipality. Between World War I and II and partly due to the financial crises of the 1930s, thinking about political economy shifted, resulting igorn proposals to recover for the State all public services. It was simple to propose doing so. It was something much bigger to implement such a project and successfully finish it.