Urban Space And The Rescue Of Downtown Mexico City : Vision And Practice

Living in communities that are run down, neglected and forgotten takes a toll on all members of the community. This is especially true when residents witness new properties being erected around the city as their own neighborhoods are deemed “ghettos” and not receiving the investment necessary for improvements. Many of the low income housing that is available to city residents aren’t the most desirable properties as they may have structural deficiencies, lead paint, rats and roaches running amuck. Many older properties also do not have adequately functioning heat or hot water availability. The housing projects also do not have air conditioning. On hot days, having no cool break in addition to all the other negative social factors, this can be a deadly combination that may perpetuate frustrations and ultimately lead to violence.

The Engineering Grand Challenge of restoring and improving urban infrastructure involves a foundation of challenges faced by architectural engineers today. Specifically, it is about repairing the infrastructure of a society, including its power grids, water infrastructure, roads, bridges, sustainable structures, and anything that provides support to our thriving lifestyle. Admittedly, improving infrastructure is an important challenge that can be fixed if there are new systems put in place that allow for improvement at any time in the future. The challenge of restoring and improving an urban infrastructure can be accomplished, but there need to be technological advances, and support from the government. Equally important is the need for programs with sufficient financial resources that can provide for a more up to date installation of the various components of an urban infrastructure.

Urbanization is inevitable, whether we want it or not. Opposers are constantly bickering about the political and moral consequences of gentrification. This topic is indeed mind boggling and complex. However, there is a need to observe this multi-faceted phenomenon in a different angle. Change is the force of diversity, safety and

urban design element. Latinos are not remaking these places in the sense of construction; they

Amid the last years of the 1800s, modern urban areas, with every one of the issues brought on by quick populace development and absence of foundation to bolster the development, involved an extraordinary place in U.S. history. For every one of the issues, and there were numerous, the urban communities advanced an uncommon security amongst individuals and established the framework for the multiethnic, multicultural society that we love today.

Violent crimes exist in both prosperous and deprived areas as well. The deprived areas are often referred to as “barrios”. It is in the barrios where organized crime leaders and street gangs set up operations. Due to criminal control or ownership of these areas, local authorities are not often capable of entering, making these areas safe havens for the criminally minded. This allows the freedom of movement within the area and results in mass criminal

Many would comment that gentrification will change the atmosphere of a city. What if that meant protecting its citizens by establishing a safer neighborhood? In the article series “York&Fig At the Intersection of Change”, Marina Bellizzi, a former citizen of Highland Park, a city which is facing gentrification, was interviewed on how much her hometown has changed since she left for college. She attended a local high school in Highland Park describing her time there as embarrassing and underprivileged, “we had pregnant teenagers, we had unsuccessful teachers. So, there was a lot of shame that was thrown at going to my high school” (“Gentrifiers”). Now Bellizzi says that the high school is being “perceived as this positive place” ( “Gentrifiers”). This is one of the many pieces of evidence that prove how a safer community changes the perspective of a town. Another piece of evidence that proves how gentrification can change for the better is seen in the city of Los Angeles. According to LA Weekly, reporter Art Tavana stated that the result of gentrification in the Los Angeles area has affected the crime rate, “For the past 11 years, crimes rates in L.A have generally dropped”. The author of the article describes that demographics have changed saying “gang members on a street corner throwing gang signs are now equivalent to members of the Tea Party hanging out in West Hollywood” (Tavana). In other

These categories, Massey claims are not mutually exclusive and social scientist should analyze them together in order to understand patterns. Through this argument Massey finds that hypersegregation is a common experience among black and Latino communities, as they experience at least four of the five spatial classifications simultaneously. The reality of hypersegregation exemplifies the shortcomings of previous urban renewal techniques specifically in their inability to lessen poverty in certain communities. These articles together illustrate the complex nature of urban change over the lines of race, class, and place in the modern American city, highlighting the importance of

The large number of people moving into cities and the majority of the population living in poverty both urban and rural it is the price of the concrete block that creates Mexico’s vernacular housing. A build as you go, use what you have, and build only what you need attitude all combine to help create this endemic. However, looking across suburbs throughout Mexico, “what you need” can be misleading, many of the houses are only partially built and continually adding on. “SEEING CONCRETE BLOCKS AS VERNACULAER, REMOVES THE NOTION THAT THIS MATERIAL IS HOMGENIZING AND AHISTORICAL” – FRY 2008. Tepetzil concrete blocks are the most popular blocks, most are exposed, however wealthier families will add a coat of painting or plaster to the outer wall. Modern machinery has accelerated the production of blocks and are now formed at a very low cost. Both rural and city citizens recognize these to be very light weight, durable, able to with stand multiple weather conditions and most of all easy to build with; which help make the tepetzil block to be the most popular. Due to low wages and frequent unemployment, the overhead cost of purchasing and building with Tepetzil blocks outweigh the negatives. The deep history of architecture housing throughout Mexico is special, not only from the diverse structures within each city, but the world as

Thousands of tiny, cliffside houses surround the city, climbing up into the verdant hills, packed together like brightly colored sardines. These are the favelas, home to hundreds of thousands of the poorest people in Brazil. Many of Rio’s favelas remain dangerous and unstable, but in the past several years the Brazilian government has begun a movement of pacification. Where once police would simply invade, battle a gang and withdraw, they are now permanently stationed to ensure the safety of neighborhood residents. This safety, however, brings with it a new kind of danger: as the favelas are pacified and begin to develop,

The urban space not only reflects the profound changes in people's lives, but also reveals many social problems. Different element which includes the building, neighborhoods, housing and transportation create a sense of spatial relationship and emphasize the importance of equality in opportunity and comprehensive development. According to the article of “Why Spatial, Why Justice, Why LA”, Edward W. Soja defines the concept of “spatiality justice” as, “an integral and formative component of justice itself, a vital part of how justice and injustice are socially constructed and evolve over time” (1, Soja). In this way, he illustrates that the spatial justice becomes fundamentally important in our society and the struggle over geography is

In “Police Reinforcements Arrive to Combat Crime in Mexico City” a lot of crime is evident in Mexico City. There are two disputing gangs in Mexico City called the Zetta and La Familia. The two gangs have caused the number of drug violence deaths in the past 6 years to be 60,000. Many citizens of Mexico City could not make enough money at their jobs so they were forced to move in to slums and tenements where they could find poor housing for cheap. Impoverished people are forced to use their resources around them to make meals and homes.

This mistrust of American society promotes a sense of isolation and alienation from the community. Authority figures, such as police and other first responders, may unwittingly strike fear into the hearts of these children because they have been conditioned to believe that these figures have the power, as well as the mandate, to destroy families. This mindset tends to discourage assimilation into mainstream American communities and promote instead the tendency of these families to cluster into small, ethnically concentrated barrios, or neighborhoods. Within these barrios, the culture and lifestyle of Mexico is recreated, which often reinforces psychological and physical isolation from mainstream American culture. Alliances are formed with others in similar circumstances, where commiseration often leads to a rising sense of resentment. It is not uncommon for angry groups to rise up in opposition to the society that is viewed as the oppressor. Evidence of this can be seen almost daily as senseless gang violence permeates our news broadcasts, plagues our communities, and terrorizes our citizens.

Brazil has some of the most violent cities in the world. The murder rate in Brazil has been going through the roof each year. Some cities have a murder rate of 50 per 50,000 people. Most murder victims are usually male, poor and teenagers. Most of these crimes take place in the infamous favelas of Brazil. Murder is not the only crime leaking in the shallow streets of the favelas. High-profile rape cases, kidnapping, drugs, and weapons dealing in the favelas are the common headlines in Brazil (Griffin, Jo). These crimes are born in the favelas and spread through the streets of Brazil. The economic growth of Brazil over the years has benefited the rich puppeteers of the society, but it has made life more miserable for the poor (McCann, Bryan). Not just in Rio, but favelas have spread throughout many cities in Brazil and now they are the number one birthplace of different types of crimes in the country. In this paper, we will analyze an article published on the online version of ‘The Guardians” regarding the lives of people living in Brazilian slums (favelas).

Revitalization efforts in downtown areas have gained momentum over the past few decades, this paper is focused on revitalization strategies, recognizing the process of decline, while identifying key strategies used in downtown revitalization efforts over the past fifty years (Faulk 2006). Downtowns, unlike suburban shopping malls or office complexes, evolved slowly over time, responding to changing technologies, social and economic patterns. A city’s identity relies heavily on the image of its downtown, so inevitably cities of all sizes commit themselves to achieving successful downtown redevelopment (Robertson 1995). As I have been reading literature on downtown revitalization a number of strategies and principles have surfaced. Many of