[2] Its urban area concentrates the poorest population in Bogotá and is known for its rampant levels of violence due to a large activity of gangs, mafia, and at times FARC, the national ex-terrorist group of Colombia.

There are very few neighborhoods with access to main roads besides the Avenida Ciudad de Villavicencio which crosses the locality from north to east in a diagonal sense.

The mass transit system TransMilenio covers Ciudad Bolívar in some areas with stops over the Caracas Avenue in Perdomo and Centro Comercial Paseo Villa del Río - Madelena.

TransMiCable gondola lift opened in 2018 and serves the steep hill neighbourhoods of Ciudad Bolívar.

The first neighborhoods were Meissen, San Francisco, Buenos Aires, Lucero Bajo and La María which were populated by low income people; mainly immigrants from the neighboring Departments of Tolima, Boyacá.