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The City and the Abandonment of Public Space. Between Neoliberal and Citizen Urbanism

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Urbicide

Part of the book series: The Urban Book Series ((UBS))

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Abstract

This text reflects on the city and the influence of urban neoliberalism in the destruction of historical and cultural elements causing social damage. The focus is related to public space because it is the active scene of citizen expression, where the social-cultural, environmental and political effects of this model of development converge. In this context, the crisis of the city imagined as a social and symbolic space where links can be created between different people, forms of urban articulation and creative solutions to conflicts over citizen rights, is emphasized. In the debate on this crisis, which is visible in public space, the concept of “urbicide” is useful, because  alludes to the deprivation, ruin, or abandonment of ideas and of social and spatial foundations that make the city a reference for urban identity and cultural heritage accessible to the different social groups that they use and live. It is interesting to reflect:  in what sense do we speak of urbicide? How do we understand and distinguish that condition? In an actual city, what is left of what is common for the reconstruction of the public?

…a basic distinction: one thing is the built environment and another is how people live in it.

… the way people want to live should be expressed in the way cities are built...

Sennett, R. (2019)

Study carried out within the framework of the research project “From domestic space to public space in times of pandemic. Social inequalities, urban violence and conflicts over rights centralities, peripheries and local and global borders (2022–2024)” under my coordination, PAPIIT IN306822-DGAPA-UNAM.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Ornelas (2000).

  2. 2.

    Rodríguez and Rodríguez (2009: 7).

  3. 3.

    Along the lines of Brenner and Theodore (2002).

  4. 4.

    Ramírez (2021).

  5. 5.

    See the website for the reconstruction of the Commission for the Reconstruction of the Government of Mexico City.

  6. 6.

    See Pradilla (2018) and Carlos De Mattos (2007).

  7. 7.

    The towns surrounding the corporate complex are San Mateo Tlaltenango, San Bartolo Ameyalco and Santa Fe de los Altos.

  8. 8.

    Through Av. Reform-Lomas, Constituyentes and the Mexico-Toluca highway.

  9. 9.

    This complex, which includes a restaurant, a shopping center and entertainment areas, was managed by the construction company of the Capital Vertical Grupo Inmobiliario building, while “LBR y Arquitectos” was responsible for the planning. In 2018, it was chosen as the best skyscraper in the world by the International Highrise Award. It was included in the list of the “50 most influential skyscrapers in the world in the last 50 years” by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. See Infobae (2022) which are the three tallest buildings in Mexico City.

  10. 10.

    These works amount to an investment of 10 billion pesos and are being built on the stretch from Hidalgo Avenue to the Fuente de Petróleos, and their construction will result in an investment of 600 million pesos as a result of mitigation measures, which will be provided to a private trust whose main destination will be mobility projects and improvement of public space in Reforma and surrounding areas. See Zamarrón (2022). The new real estate boom in Reforma will provide 600 million pesos to Mexico City. Forbes Mexico.

  11. 11.

    Located in the Benito Juárez area on the border with the Coyoacán area. The authorization included the construction of 1 million 28 thousand 71.96 m2; however, the volume almost doubled, despite insisting complaints from affected neighbors (Proceso Magazine: 2019).

  12. 12.

    Listed as a historic monument by the National Institute of Anthropology and History.

  13. 13.

    There are 14 types of apartments with dimensions ranging from 68 to 314 m2, with an approximate price of 70,000 pesos per m2, meaning that the smallest apartment is worth approximately 4.7 million pesos, while the largest one costs between 22 and 28 million pesos. In addition, it has a profitable office area of 64 thousand 649 m2, distributed in 25 commercial spaces; its main tenants are: Loreal, Sanofi, WeWork and Total Play. Within the complex, there are different amenities such as cinema, swimming pool, toy library, children’s games, event room and guest rooms, games room, sauna, spa, steam room and a gym.

  14. 14.

    ¿Quién es dueño de Mitikah?, la polémica obra de la CDMX. La Silla Rota, 24/09/2022.

  15. 15.

    Mitikah, El cartel inmobiliario y los sismos, Alejandro de la Garza, Sin Embargo, 24 de septiembre, 2022.

  16. 16.

    The company Fibra Uno bought the construction from Ideurban and Prudential in 2015 for 185 million dollars. See Emilio Gómez, Mitikah: Neoliberal Emblem, The Mayan Day, opinion, September 24, 2022.

  17. 17.

    The developer of the FIBRA UNO project is analyzing the second phase of construction of the project, so far they have land use authorization for the entire comprehensive project, but private licenses for this stage have not yet been granted. See Noguez (2022). After 14 years of construction, Mitikah Shopping Center will open at the end of the year. Forbes Mexico.

  18. 18.

    A fine of 40 million pesos was imposed, but the lack of clarity in payment persists until the time of writing this article. Residents fear that an attempt will be made to continue with the work of the overpass that would privatize the street and the fine could be resolved by creating mitigation works in the area.

  19. 19.

    The real estate boom in the period 2013–2018 is expressed in the support and authorization of 292 real estate projects, most of which are considered to have high impact, which represent housing developments, offices, centers and shopping malls, to a lesser extent hotels and hospitals (Cruz 2018). Most of it is concentrated in the municipalities of Álvaro Obregón, Miguel Hidalgo, Benito Juárez, Cuauhtémoc and Cuajimalpa.

  20. 20.

    See Expansion (2022) “The Naked 500”.

  21. 21.

    Panreiter (2011), cites the existence of 329 companies in 2006.

  22. 22.

    The highest proportion of violations of the law occurred in two central municipalities in the capital: Benito Juárez and Cuauhtémoc (PAOT 2017–2018).

  23. 23.

    Di Masso et al. (2017).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Social Research Institute, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico City, Mexico

    Patricia Ramírez Kuri

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  1. Patricia Ramírez Kuri
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Correspondence to Patricia Ramírez Kuri .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, FLACSO Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador

    Fernando Carrión Mena

  2. Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, FLACSO Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador

    Paulina Cepeda Pico

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Ramírez Kuri, P. (2023). The City and the Abandonment of Public Space. Between Neoliberal and Citizen Urbanism. In: Carrión Mena, F., Cepeda Pico, P. (eds) Urbicide. The Urban Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25304-1_19

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