Ministry of Environment of the Government of Mexico City
The Pitch
The Ministry of Environment of the Government of Mexico City created a five-pronged program designed to rehabilitate the natural environment of the city and engage residents in conservation using blue and green infrastructure.
The Problem
Paved surfaces created an urban heat island effect in Mexico City and their impermeability exacerbated flooding when rain events occurred. Many neighborhoods lacked access to the natural environment and sustainable mobility infrastructure like bike paths that offered a sustainable transportation option.
The Process
- Developed the Environmental and Climate Change Program (PACC), to outline and implement the city’s climate adaptation projects, and the Special Program of the Green Infrastructure Network (PERIVE)
- Invested $1.818 billion in improving quality and access to public green spaces and green, creating a healthy environment, introducing sustainable mobility options, cleaning water bodies and increasing participatory democracy
- Created five main green infrastructure projects that connect science, academia, the private sector, government and local citizens:
- Sowing Parks: designed to restore and enhance green spaces in public parks
- Cleaning Rivers: aimed at reducing pollution
- Gardens for Life: installs pollinator gardens throughout the city
- Green Challenge: a program to increase tree and shrub cover in parks, along roads, sidewalks and more in all municipalities of the city
- Socio-Environmental Rehabilitation of Protected Natural Areas: enhanced the ecology and accessibility of protected areas around the city
- Formed interdepartmental working tables with a focus on improving public spaces, planting vegetation and rehabilitating bodies of water in and around the city
- Introduced legislation that would institutionalize the protection of natural areas and promote the adoption of green and blue infrastructure
The Impact
- Planted 40 million trees and shrubs through the Green Challenge program, revegetating the city and bringing the benefits of canopy cover
- Created 1,000 pollinator gardens through Gardens for Life
- Revitalized 18 public spaces through Sowing Parks, raising the surface area of urban green spaces from 14.5 meters squared to 19.4 meters squared
- Spurred restoration of six rivers and the National Canal
- Replanted 772 hectares of wetlands and created 26.2 hectares of new wetland area
- Improved the riparian area around rivers and added habitat for freshwater species
- Generated green job opportunities
- Improved peoples’ health, quality of life and security, and renewed residents’ positive perceptions of their neighborhoods through the introduction of new green spaces
- Increased social cohesion by providing space for neighbors to interact
- Created ecological benefits, reduced flooding and water scarcity, preserved biodiversity and increased natural habitats by adding green and blue infrastructure
- Greatly improved public life in neighborhoods where access to green spaces was scarce: Many projects were carried out in marginalized areas of the city
