UTOPIAS – Urban transformation and organization for social inclusion and harmony

Iztapalapa is the most populated municipality in Mexico City with near 2 million inhabitants. 43% of its population lives in poverty, 33% is between 15 to 34 years old, and 23% works in the informal economy. Socio-economic and territorial inequalities are key challenges among the local population. 

The UTOPIAS initiative is a strategy to deepen social and urban transformation that reduces existing socio-urban inequalities and violence with a human rights perspective , retaking the historical local social struggle for Right to City,  via the regeneration of deteriorated public spaces and the construction of a system of large, comprehensive, high-impact public facilities that promote human rights and well-being of communities, with a focus on the equitable distribution of public spaces and facilities, which provide free social, care, cultural, sporting and recreational activities and services that are open to people of all ages and genders,  prioritizing alternative activities for the elderly, the disabled, raped women, at-risk youth in violent environments, addicted people.

The initiative applies an innovative approach to urban management that adopts an integrated, participatory, trans-disciplinary, and trans-sectorial vision that has recovered and transformed so far more than 540,000 square meters of degraded public space with 12 UTOPIAS, built in only 4 years, that serve more than 100,000 people a week, transforming their lives.