Colonial and Postcolonial

The Puente Aranda hacienda was property of Don Jorge Aranda, and was established in a marshy terrain south of the then village of Santafé in the 16th century by the oidor Francisco de Anuncibay who arrived to the New Kingdom of Granada in the year 1537. This hacienda was first named "Hacienda of Aranda" and "The Roof of the Jorges", where the rivers Chinúa and San Agustín merged. It was also the main western path to get to the Magdalena River, which was and still is the most important fluvial artery of Colombia and a bridge was built to facilitate this. Floodings of the Bogotá River and its tributaries was frequent. In 1768, a bridge was reconstructed with a better structure and named Puente de Aranda (Aranda's Bridge). Then, an esplanade was built along across the wetlands, towards the west in an effort to connect Bogotá with the port of Honda along the Magdalena River. This way, Honda was then connected to Fontibón and the "Avenida de Encomienda", nowadays Calle 13 (Avenida del Centenario). Simón Bolívar and his troops camped in the Hacienda of Aranda in 1814 during the wars of independence from Spain.

In 1898 the southern line of the Railway of Bogotá was established which connected Bogota with the Tequendama Falls area as part of the development of the region. The area was until the beginning of the 20th century a rural area of many haciendas.

Urbanization

By 1944, the rapid expansion of Bogotá towards the south reached the Puente Aranda area, the Aranda bridge was demolished to build Avenida de Las Américas, a project supported by the Colombian Society of Architects, which would join Calle 13 and dividing into two ways; Calle 13 towards Fontibón and Avenida de Las Américas towards the locality of Kennedy. The area where these two ways intersect is the site of the new Aranda bridge and the name of the neighborhood of Puente Aranda surrounding the crossing.

The area then had a rapid residential and industrial development, with numerous small manufacturing businesses basing their operations in the area. Puente Aranda was zonified and consolidated with the Pilot Plan for Bogotá in 1951. In 1963, Puente Aranda and its neighboring barrios were declared sectors of Bogota only after Chapinero which had been named a zone in 1954. Since then, Puente Aranda has been producing industrial products as textiles, chemicals, metallurgy, food and services.

Puente Aranda then extended to conurbate with the localities of Fontibón and Kennedy to the west, and Antonio Nariño and Rafael Uribe Uribe to the south.

In 1972, the "Special District of Bogotá" was created and divided the city into 16 zones, each of them served by a minor city hall. This was done in an effort to begin establishing a Metropolitan Area for Bogotá. The 16 mayors, heading the different zones, were appointed by the Mayor of Bogotá. This system was ratified in an agreement in the year 1977.

With the Colombian Constitution of 1991, the Special District became the Capital District dividing Bogotá into 20 localities and its minor city hall became a local city hall with its city council and a local administrative board.

Population

The first census was done in 1973, in which Puente Aranda had an estimated population of 221,776 inhabitants. In the 1985 Census Puente Aranda registered a population of 305,123 inhabitants and since then the population started to decrease due to the construction of new residential areas in other parts of Bogotá. In 1993, Puente Aranda registered a population of 282,491 inhabitants. According to the 2005 Census, Puente Aranda had grown to 370,292 inhabitants.