Public Relations Theory

2Strategy

Ana María Suárez‐Monsalve and Juan‐Carlos Molleda

In the city of Medellín, Colombia, in 1994, the METRO transportation system was inaugurated and constituted as the Mass Transportation Enterprise of the Aburrá Valley (a.k.a. Metro de Medellín, or Metro hereafter). Medellín is the second most important city of Colombia in terms of economics and politics. With close to 3 million inhabitants, it is the capital city of the department of Antioquia and is in the center of the Aburrá Valley. The valley is made up of 10 neighboring municipalities, which together have a population of 5 million inhabitants. The Metro joins the Metropolitan Area as a north–south axis and the center of the Metrocables (cable cars) and the Tranvía trams in the Integrated Transport System of the Aburrá Valley, SITVA.

At a time of high violence in the city and in the wake of the ravages of the war against drug trafficker Pablo Escobar Gaviria (killed on December 2, 1993), the company set out to create a new culture among the inhabitants of the Aburrá Valley. Leaders of the Metro came together and working in tandem built trust and relationships with people living in the neighborhoods near the Metro stations and lines. This outreach was aimed at generating a sense of belonging and cultivating an attitude of care and preservation for the transportation system.

The company says the Metro culture is the result of the social, educational, and cultural management model built, consolidated, and delivered ...