Enrique Peñalosa is an internationally respected urban thinker, who, as Mayor of Bogotá in two non-consecutive terms, profoundly transformed the city. As adviser and lecturer, he has influenced policies in many cities throughout the world.
Among his achievements was the creation of TransMilenio, one of the world’s leading BRT (bus rapid transport) systems, which today moves 2.4 million passengers daily and has served as model to hundreds of cities. Currently its lines are being extended by 61%. He contracted the first Metro line in Bogotá which is under construction. He also created an extensive bicycle network, greenways, hundreds of parks, sports and cultural centers and large libraries, 67 schools, 35 of which were developed by a successful private-public scheme. As mayor, Peñalosa led high quality urban development projects for more than 500,000 residents through a radical redevelopment of 33 hectares of the center of Bogotá. This area, previously controlled by drug dealers and crime, required demolition of more than 1200 buildings a few blocks from the institutional heart of Colombia, including the Presidential house.
Peñalosa’s advisory work concentrates on urban mobility, quality of life, competitiveness, equity and the leadership required to turn visions into realities.
Peñalosa has lectured in hundreds of cities and in many of the world’s most important universities. He has advised local and national governments in Asia, Africa, Australia, Latin America and the United States.
Peñalosa is a member of the Advisory Board of AMALI (African Mayoral Leadership Initiative) and Fellow of the Institute for Urban Research at the University of Pennsylvania. For over a decade, Peñalosa was President of the Board of New York’s ITDP (Institute for Transportation and Development Policy) and member of the London School of Economics’ Cities Program Advisory Board. Peñalosa was a member of the Commission for the Reinvention of Transport of the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority created by the New York Governor Cuomo.
His book, Equality and the City, was recently published in English by The University of Pennsylvania, in Spanish by Villegas Editores, and in Portuguese by the IPP (Instituto Pereira Passos) of Rio de Janeiro.
Peñalosa has been included in Planetizen’s list of “The Most Influential Urbanists, Past and Present,” most recently in July 2023. He was also one of “15 Thought Leaders in Sustainable City Development” selected by Identity Review in July 2023. Peñalosa has been awarded important international recognitions such as the Stockholm Challenge, the Gothenburg Sustainability Prize, and the 2018 Edmund N. Bacon Award, the highest tribute of The Center for Design and Architecture of Philadelphia. For Peñalosa’s work, Bogotá was awarded the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennale.
Peñalosa has a BA in Economics and History from Duke University, a Degree in Government from the IIAP (now merged with ENA) in France and a DESS in Public Administration from the University of Paris 2 Pantheon-Assas. He was Dean of Management at Externado University in Bogotá and a Visiting Scholar at New York University.
Peñalosa’s TED Talk has nearly 1 million views and his X account in Spanish has more than 2 million followers.
