ABSTRACT
To understand the way developer obligations are applied in Colombia, it is important to review how the judicial discussions have shaped the evolution and legal embedment of the rationale and scope of DOs. By doing so, this chapter seeks, first, to explain how court rulings transformed the conception of private property and land management in Colombian municipalities. In parallel, through the mentioned historical recount, it seeks to present how DOs work nowadays, through a case study of the two biggest cities in the country (Medellín and Bogotá). In general, the legal framework of DOs was left to municipalities to regularize. First, DOs regarded on-site contributions in kind (public infrastructure and the land needed for the development area) and with time also contributions towards social housing, off-site infrastructure and on monetary contributions. Gradually, DOs became more regulated and less negotiable, but nowadays, N-NDOs still coexist with NDOs.
