Connected Cities brings transit-oriented development principles to eight Mexican cities
The city of Mérida on the Yucatan was one of eight municipalities selected to participate in a series of upcoming workshops co-hosted by EMBARQ Mexico focused on creating "Connected Cities" through transit-oriented development. Photo by Karyn Christner/Flickr.
On December 5 and 6, 2013, EMBARQ Mexico partnered with the National Workers Housing Fund Institute (Instituto del Fondo Nacional de la Vivienda para los Trabajadores – INFONAVIT) to host the “Connected Cities: Sustainable Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) through reform of the regulatory framework” workshop in Mexico City. The workshop catered to decision-makers responsible for regulating and promoting urban development at the local level, and helped them develop the tools to build institutional support around shifting to a more sustainable model of urban development. Such institutional support and capacity is fundamental to the regulatory reform necessary to adopt sustainable development models like TOD.
Following a national call for participants earlier in the year, twenty municipalities applied to participate in the workshop. The following eight cities were selected by the organizing committee: Morelia, Michoacán; San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora; Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche; Querétaro, Querétaro; Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas; Mérida, Mérida; Nogales, Sonora; and Campeche, Campeche.
In order to participate in the workshop, each municipality formed teams of representatives from a wide range of local institutions, including city council members, technical experts in urban development at the state and local levels, and private developers. Each team also included a delegation from INFONAVIT. Participants were invited to conceive of and draw out the opportunities and obstacles posed by their cities’ respective regulatory frameworks. Through this collaborative approach, the workshop served as a platform for learning and exchange on how to address common challenges faced by each city, with leaders from each city sharing examples and best practices.
EMBARQ Mexico’s role as the project moves forward is to continue direct engagement with each of the participating cities by reviewing documentation, providing technical assistance, conducting regular visits, and facilitating and advising on changes to regulatory measures surrounding urban development.
Read more about EMBARQ Mexico’s role in promoting TOD in Mexican cities in Spanish on www.embarqmexico.org/.