Alicia Ziccardi

Pobreza urbana, segregación residencial y mejoramiento del espacio público en la Ciudad de México

In Mexico City, as well as in other Latin American modern metropolises, huge majorities among population do not get access to income, resources and opportunities that may guarantee adequate conditions living and labor conditions. Poverty, inequality and distinct ways of social exclusion affect social cohesion. The distinct methods used to assess the extent and characteristics of poverty allow for understanding the range and features assumed by this problem. Therefore, among the goods and services offered by the city to those who live in it, this study analyses the public actions taken with the purpose of improving or building new public spaces aimed at promoting collective practices - sports, cultural and recreational areas - which may contribute to strengthen both local identity and community life. It is aimed, particularly, at retrieving the experience of Programa Comunitario de Mejoramiento Barrial (Community Program for Neighborhood Improvement), an initiative of the Federal District government, in force since 2007, that constitutes a massive and innovative participatory action which succeeded in transforming a large number of public spaces in neighborhoods, districts and shantytowns that were under conditions of urban marginalization and social degradation. This article presents two successful cases, in which the governmental support program led to changes in public spaces that contributed for promoting community participation.