The project is opening important community issues in barrio Santa Maria la Ribera, such as the right to water and the prevention of crime and violence in the public space by promoting the participation of residents in local scale. Such urban interventions at the level of microurbanism allow to the residents an active creation of the new urban environment. Mexico City, a megapolis with twenty millions of inhabitants, built on a lake with many water tributaries, is now faced with the problem of water distribution. This could be a case study accessing water in all urban centers in the future.
The project allows long-term recuperation of community with the participation of many local partners. It focuses on researching the current urban reality and development of long-term sustainable scenarios for the barrio of Santa Maria la Ribera on the theme of water. With the participation and integration of local partners (SPAZI, UAM, Libreria Bodet, KUD C3, Cineclub Santa Maria, Consejo Consultivo Cultural Ciudadano de Santa Maria la Ribera, Enchulame la Bici, Mi Verde Morada) there were carried out first steps for preparation of alternative development scenario, which will help to the community to resist the current process of gentrification.
About Barrio Santa Maria la Ribera
Barrio Santa Maria la Ribera is located in the north central part of Mexico City, by the connection of Insurgentes. It was created in the late 19th century as the first urban neighborhood designed for rich people. Urban and cultural highlight of the barrio were reached between 1910 and 1930. After 1930 they started new ways of housing, which was brought by the middle class. Urban structure has changed dramatically in 1950, living conditions have worsened due to the construction of large residential buildings. Mass migration of poorer people to the barrio begun after the earthquake in 1985. The number of inhabitants increased in an extremely short period from 20,000 to 60,000. Today it is the one of the few barrio district of Mexico City, with many craft workshops and small shops that was typical for the city of the 20th century. Such quarters had radically transform due the process of gentrification.
