EMBARQ Mexico leads CITÉS study tour in urban planning techniques

Over the past six months, Mexico has demonstrated a renewed focus on urban policies. The newly elected Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) government, which came into power in December 2012, has created a new Department known as SEDATU (Secretaría de Reforma Agraría, Desarrollo Territorial y Urbano) – Department for Agrarian Reform, Territorial and Urban Development – which focuses on planning and sustainability.

In order to capture this momentum, EMBARQ Mexico, with the support of the Mario Molina Center (CMM) and the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness (IMCO), launched an Urban Reform campaign. Last month, the three organizations published seven proposals for Urban Reform, in the context of the new National Development Plan – the framework document which will guide Federal policies for the next 5 years. The proposals point to the urgent need for urban reform across the country, noting that Mexico’s cities are now responsible for 88% of the national GDP. Among other topics, they address planning for urban mobility, revitalizing deteriorating urban areas, and redirecting housing finance to help improve quality of life in sustainable communities. The proposals – as described on the website – demand  “a structural reform aimed at giving the country institutional, legal and financial tools that will help them to unleash the immense social and economic potential of cities in Mexico.”

As part of this effort towards urban reform, twenty urban policy makers are traveling this week from Mexico to Paris and Lille, France for a cross-cultural study tour in metropolitan policies. The trip, led by EMBARQ Mexico and financed by the French Embassy in Mexico, brings together members of the Mexican federal and local governments, civil organizations and business owners. The participants are from a wide breadth of organizations including the National Congress, the National Housing Commission (CONAVI), the SEDATU Department, and the Mexican Institute for Competitiveness.

This is the second study tour to France organized by EMBARQ Mexico the first of which, in 2011, focused on integrated sustainable urban transport. This year, Mexican delegates will learn about successful implementation of territorial planning, urban renewal and tools for innovation. In addition to the technical knowledge that will be gathered on this trip, this visit is “expected to encourage long-term collaboration between the institutions of both countries during this new administrative period" says Yann Thoreau La Salle, with the Aggregate Technical Cooperation group of the Embassy of France in Mexico.

EMBARQ Mexico is pleased to strengthen its relationship with the Mexican government, demonstrating EMBARQ’s role as a productive partner in the effort to improve the quality of life for the 90 million Mexican citizens living in cities today.

After the trip, the delegation will work to identify Mexico’s obstacles to successful policy implementation. EMBARQ Mexico plans to publish their conclusions by the end of September at the Ninth International Congress on Sustainable Transport.

For more information, contact Julie Clerc, EMBARQ Mexico, at jclerc@embarqmexico.org

The press release from EMBARQ Mexico may be read here.