Regeneración urbana en la Ciudad de México: polisemia de concepciones y de acciones públicas

Abstract

This article analyzes the usage of the term urban regeneration in the theory and the practice in Mexico City, which since the 1970s different theoretical, political, and ideological currents have used to address the multidimensional economic, social, physical, and environmental problems of urban decay and deterioration in the existing urban fabric. The article provides evidence that under this conception a polysemy of public actions (non-neutral or depoliticized) and some social initiatives are promoted and applied in dealing with very partially diverse urban problems. The article analyzes experiences of public interventions carried out between 1970 and 2020 in consolidated urban fabrics in Mexico’s capital city, promoted with more or less intensity by social collectives in working-class neighborhoods downtown, the historic center, and self-built quarters in the urban periphery. Beyond the neutral discourse of urban regeneration and alleged comprehensive interventions, in the practice sectoral policies or real estate ventures that, although sometimes converge in a single territory, and are not comprehensive nor coordinated or do not necessarily benefit the majority of society. The article collects the results of various investigations carried out in the last two decades on urban and housing policies in different urban areas.