Bottom-up urbanism · Bogotá D.C.

The city is built
by those who live in it.

Zoning, design, finance, legal and construction working for the neighbours who already own the city's most valuable land.

See the block

Not a developer. Not a real estate agency.

We are the project office that until now only large developers had, put at the service of a city block.

iURBANS turns a neighbourhood block into a housing project that its own neighbours decide on, contribute to and live in. It calculates, lot by lot, what can be built, what it costs, what each household receives and what is missing for the operation to close; and it coordinates everyone who makes it possible.

Households pay nothing up front. If the operation goes ahead, project management is one more line in the project's cost, paid from the trust. iURBANS never collects or holds the neighbours' money.

Who it is for

Owners and residents who want to know what their block is worth and what would happen if they decided together.
Community Action Boards (Juntas de Acción Comunal) looking for a project for their neighbourhood without the neighbourhood moving out.
Industry professionals: architecture, engineering, appraisal, law, construction and site supervision.

44,038

Bogotá city blocks in the territorial model

933,410

lots with official cadastral geometry

calculation engines: zoning, form, cost, finance and households

4,651

automated tests passing

Bogotá's official cadastre (UAECD) loaded into the project's territorial model. Measurements on the project's code repository and database.

The most valuable land in Latin American cities belongs to working-class neighbourhoods. What they lacked was everything else.

Neighbours tending a shared garden in the courtyard of a renewed block — **What we are after.** Blocks where neighbours stay and gain a courtyard, a garden and places to meet.

Bogotá has homes. It lacks good ones.

Today neighbourhoods renew lot by lot: a house is sold, a building goes up and the family moves away.

A traditional street in transition, new buildings next to old houses — **More expensive.** Lot-by-lot renewal: new shops and cafés arrive; the bakery and its neighbours are put at risk.

A minimal flat next to a house that grew with its family — **Smaller.** The house that grows with the family versus the minimal flat that fits the spreadsheet.

A gated complex with its back to the street — **More closed.** The gated complex that turns its back on the street: fenced shared areas and no neighbourhood around them.

0.3%

quantitative housing deficit · Bogotá 2025

6.0%

qualitative deficit · households in homes that need improving

8 → 16%

residential properties of 40 m² or less, from 2006 to 2026

Sources: UAECD, 2026 real estate census (via Infobae); DANE, 2025 housing deficit (via the Mayor's Office of Bogotá). Compiled in the project's valuation report.

// The opportunity, in one block

Two ways to use the code.

The same block, the same code, the same camera and the same scale. A conceptual diagram.

87%of candidate lots in Consolidation and Renewal, developed one by one, would pay their land dedication off-site

58%of candidate blocks, assembled as a whole, would dedicate 400 m² or more on site

Measured across Bogotá's 12,362 candidate blocks with the engine's formula

State 1 of 4

Today: the existing block.

28 lots · 28 houses · no public space or shared areas

Two- and three-storey houses built by their owners over decades.

Scroll to go through the four states

Today: 28 two- and three-storey houses, no public space or shared areas

7,910 m²built today

0 m²of public space

Public space: on-site dedication
Additional public space: open courtyard
Dedication paid off-site
Illustrative maximum height
Building
Active ground floor
Existing building kept
Open private land
Tree: canopy and trunk (indicative)
Original lot boundary

Model	Spatial justice	Environmental sustainability	Social sustainability	Economic sustainability
Lot by lot	The dedication is paid off-site and nothing requires it to be invested in the neighbourhood.	Everything is demolished and the interior is split into scattered yards.	The owner sells and leaves; the tenant is usually displaced.	Land bought, developer's margin and ever smaller homes.
iURBANS	The dedication is delivered on site and the courtyard opens to the neighbourhood: new public space.	What works is kept; a tree-lined courtyard, with daylight as a rule.	Replacement housing for the owner; a preferential right for the resident.	Land comes in as capital; any surplus belongs to the households.

// Environment

Greening the city that already exists.

The block operation does not consume new land: it frees up land within the built city, gives it back as public and green space, and makes use of the networks the neighbourhood already has.

Today

1,440 m²

of open ground, all of it in scattered private yards. The houses cover 70% of the block; there is no plaza and no shared trees.

iURBANS block

2,225 m²

of open ground, public or shared. The building covers 54%; 46% stays open to the neighbourhood and planted with trees.

960 m²

of public plaza on site · lot by lot: 0

trees in the courtyard and plaza of the scheme

11,560 m²

built on existing networks, against 14,400 lot by lot

Permeable ground

From sealed yard to living soil

Open ground stops being a sum of private yards and comes together in an open plaza and courtyard that can be permeable: they absorb rain, relieve the sewer system and lower the neighbourhood's temperature.

Existing networks

Densifying where the city has already invested

New housing on serviced land: water, sewerage, power, roads and transport that already exist, instead of extending networks to the periphery. Height is set by the calculation, not by the maximum.

City of proximity

The 15-minute city, on one block

The same neighbours, the usual shops on an active ground floor and housing close to jobs and transport. Fewer long journeys, more neighbourhood life.

Greener neighbourhoods

Greenery that stays in the neighbourhood

The land dedication is delivered on site as a plaza, with a tree-lined courtyard, a garden and light as a design rule, instead of being paid into a distant account.

Permeable surface, water and energy · not measured yet

How much ground stays permeable, how much water infiltrates and how much energy is saved depends on the design of each block. It will be measured on the pilot blocks, with the same rigour as the money.

Conceptual scheme of the typical block (80 × 60 m, 28 lots): footprints and open ground measured on the drawing's geometry, with the same camera and scale in every state. Lot by lot, 2,400 m² would remain open, split across 28 private yards. It is not a project or an offer.

One street split in two: grey and dull on one side, warm and full of neighbours on the other

The same land, two futures.

On one side, more of the same. On the other, the block its neighbours decide on.

The neighbours already own the land.

In Bogotá, the best-located land, with services, transport and neighbourhood life, belongs to working-class households.

Today · lot-by-lot renewalWith iURBANS · block operation

Who decidesThe developer, from its business modelThe neighbours, with all the technical and financial information about their block

The ownerSells and leaves with a cash paymentContributes the land and receives a new replacement home, compensation and a share in the value created when the operation generates it

The tenantIs displacedHas a preferential right to stay: access to subsidised social housing (VIS/VIP), or another way to remain

Urban formA five- or six-storey building on every lotA block project: courtyards, public space, green areas and reuse of what works

Land dedicationsEach lot dedicates less than 400 m² and pays it off-siteBy assembling the block, the dedication can be delivered on the block: in 58% of candidates

SpeculationHousing is a free-market productSocial function: replacement housing, VIS/VIP and a market-rate share that finances it, with governance models that protect against speculation

Bogotá's code already rewards this model

Bogotá District Decree 670 of 2025, the Single District Land-Use Planning Decree (Decreto Único Distrital de Ordenamiento Territorial), turns the permanence of residents and owners into incentives for the project.

D670/2025	What it establishes	What it means for your block
Art. 267	Preferential right of residents and productive activities over the project's units	The residents in the census are the project's first buyers
Art. 275	No requirement to allocate land or floor area to social housing (VIS) when the project includes its residents (in consolidation of strata 1-3, at least 50%)	Including residents frees up floor area and improves the project's numbers
Art. 276	The replacement home keeps its socioeconomic stratum for 10 years	Those who stay keep their stratum for 10 years, and with it their utility rates
Art. 278	Additional incentives for owners' participation and permanence	It rewards exactly the cooperative operation

Primary source: Bogotá District Decree 670 of 2025, official text in the Registro Distrital. How it applies to each block depends on its urban treatment and is calculated by the zoning engine.

From a curious neighbour to a renewed block.

Eight phases. Each produces a decision, a document and a criterion for moving forward.

01
Discover
Each neighbour sees their lot, its zoning, its value and what their block could become.
02
Organise
Household census, signed intent and roles: owner, resident, shop.
03
Evaluate
3D alternatives with costs, revenues and what each household receives.
04
Decide
Assembly, governance model and traceable minutes.
05
Constitute
Project vehicle, contributions and individual contracts.
06
Finance
Trust, pre-sales, subsidies and construction loan.
07
Build
Contractor tender, site supervision, milestones and verifiable payments.
08
Live
Handover, households' return and community governance.

What each household receives

The owner contributes their land and receives a new replacement home: 105% of their current area, with a decent minimum of 45 m² and a cap of 150 m² (anything above the cap is paid in cash), financial compensation and a say in the design of shared spaces.
The resident who rents gets preferential access to subsidised social housing (VIS/VIP) with subsidy and credit; if they cannot buy, the operation must offer them a way to stay or return.
The local business gets its premises back on the commercial ground floor.
The neighbourhood receives the on-site dedication if the assembly reaches the code's threshold.

What each household receives is calculated by the engine case by case and agreed before the project is constituted. iURBANS does not promise a figure or a multiplier in advance: it depends on who takes part, on the assembled area and on spatial and financial feasibility.

Inside a self-built house extended over decades — **The starting point.** A self-built, incrementally grown house: the wealth each household contributes.

**The destination.** A cooperative courtyard with a garden, play area and homes around it.

Seven governance models against speculation

Neighbours choose theirs by agreement. Each model comes with its legal framework and its protections: the housing created is not just a free-market product.

M1	Condominium with democratic governance
M2	Traditional housing cooperative
M3	Right-of-use cooperative
M4	Cohousing
M5	Senior cohousing
M6	Community land trust
M7	Voluntary block · iURBANS' own model

// Who gains what

Everyone gains from where they stand.

A block is only renewed if it works for everyone at the same time. Choose who you are and see how it goes for you: what you put in, what you receive in money and what you gain in life.

Who are you on the block?

You put in your lot and your house.

You receive in money a new replacement home, with a dignified minimum of 45 m² and a cap of 150 m²: anything above the cap is paid to you in money. Plus compensation and a share of the surplus if the operation generates one.

You gain in life a return to your block, to a new home with a courtyard, a plaza and the same neighbours. You keep your socioeconomic stratum for 10 years, and with it your utility rates (D670, art. 276).

You pay nothing up front: management is a line in the project cost, paid from the trust.

You put in your place in the neighbourhood census.

You receive in money priority access to VIS/VIP social housing with a subsidy and a loan: the rent you pay today can become the instalment on something of your own.

You gain in life staying in the neighbourhood, close to your work, your school and your people. If you cannot buy, the operation must offer you an alternative to stay or return.

You put in your premises and your customers.

You receive in money your premises back on an active ground floor, with more neighbours at the door: from 7,910 to 11,560 m² built on the typical block. Productive activities also have a right of first refusal (D670, art. 267).

You gain in life a shop, workshop or bakery that stays at the heart of the neighbourhood, instead of being the first thing to go.

The block · reference project 19,200 M COP total cost, managed in trust. All the money goes through it: nobody gets paid outside it.

You put in design, engineering, construction and supervision.

You receive in money verified commissions and milestone payments from the trust; construction is awarded by competition. The platform charges a subscription and a success fee on the commissions it awards.

You gain in life working on a living project file, with information entered only once and always in its current version.

You put in the autonomous trust fund and the construction loan.

You receive in money the management of the project's 19,200 M and a lower-risk loan: a complete, sealed loan file and pre-sales with demand identified from the census.

You gain in life financing new housing in serviced neighbourhoods, with every peso traceable.

You put in zoning, subsidies and permits.

You receive in money the land dedication on the same block that generates it, without buying land, and VIS/VIP housing without extending networks to the periphery.

You gain in life households that stay, greener neighbourhoods and a city of proximity.

The model's reference project: a typical block in Engativá, with illustrative figures. Every block is different: what each household receives is calculated by the engine case by case and agreed before constitution, never a promised average. Shops and plaza: measured on the conceptual scheme of the typical block.

// Rigour as an advantage

The system that won't inflate the numbers.

What isn't feasible is named, not sold. And the system says what it would take to make it happen.

Before showing an alternative to a neighbour, the engine runs it through a no-loss filter:

No household ends up with less than it has today.
The project covers its cost with a 3% buffer.
There is room to rehouse every household.
The footprint does not invade other people's land or public land.
The block is eligible under its zoning.

2,732

land assemblies evaluated by the filter

145

blocks with a modelled operation

With today's costs and prices, none of them passes the full filter yet. For each one, the system publishes how much is missing and through which lever: cost, price, subsidy or time.

The figures are measured again after every correction to the engine.

Anyone can draw a building. No one else calculates, for every household in a block, what it receives, what is missing and who has to sign.

Coming soon · the complete app ecosystem

// What's next

Every trade, in one phone.

Architecture, engineering, appraisal, lawyers, trust, banking, permits and construction, gathered around your block.

Today only a large developer can bring a renewal project together. The iURBANS app puts every party in the same project file, with a manager accountable for the whole process.

Neighbours · B2COwners, residents and local businesses: land, will, decisions

Professionals · B2BArchitecture, engineering, appraisal, law, construction and supervision

Trust and bankingTrust fund, pre-sales, break-even and construction loan

Institutions · B2GHousing, Planning, Cadastre, permit offices and family-benefit funds: zoning, subsidies and procedures

iURBANSPlatform · management · validation

Neighbours · B2C

Your block, on your phone

Your lot, its zoning and what your block could become. Household census, signed intent, assemblies with quorum and minutes, and what each household receives, calculated case by case.

Professionals · B2B

The professional marketplace

Architects, engineers, supervisors and builders receive verified commissions and work on the block's project file, with tenders and milestone payments.

Trust and banking

The money always stays in trust

Trust fund, pre-sales and construction loan. For the bank, each project's credit file, complete and sealed.

Institutions · B2G

Zoning, subsidies and procedures

Housing and Planning offices, permit offices and family-benefit funds with a block-level territorial dashboard, subsidy channelling and public verification of minutes and documents.

What remains is a living project file: every figure, geometry, cost, agreement and signature with its origin and version. When a neighbour joins or leaves, the project is recalculated and each person sees what changed for them.

A neighbourhood's commercial ground floor with a shop, a workshop and neighbours — **What the project protects.** The corner shop, the workshop and the neighbours who sustain the local economy.

Current status

The engines already calculate for all of Bogotá. The platform currently runs in a local environment while all its pieces are connected into a single journey; the complete app ecosystem launches soon.

Tell me when it launches

// Why now

The next city is already built.

It's in the consolidated neighbourhoods, on land their neighbours already own. What's missing is deciding it together.

I want to explore my block

info@iurbans.com

Bogotá, Colombia

iURBANS

We build the city from the bottom up

The city is built by those who live in it.