Bush School Students, Faculty Assist Mexico City’s Government Planning Institute

Nine students from the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University are assisting a Mexico City newly established planning institute with increasing citizen participation in urban planning.

Mexico City’s government began reorganizing many aspects of its government after enacting its first constitution in 2017.  Among the changes is a plan to create a new Instituto de Planeación Democrática y Perspectiva (Institute of Democratic and Prospective Planning) in 2019. In early January, nine students from the Master of Public Service and Administration (MPSA) degree program at the Bush School traveled to Mexico City to begin their capstone research project. Led by faculty member Dr. Mary Hilderbrand, the team spent a week seeking a better understanding of the institute’s goals and policies.

Working with Ruta Cívica, a Mexican nonprofit organization, the Bush School capstone team has been tasked with advising the organization on best practices for increasing citizen participation. Ruta Cívica will present the team’s research to the newly created institute in Mexico City. The institute will be responsible for urban and sustainability planning within Mexico City’s government and will include an office for community consultation and participation.  The office is being established in response to neighborhood opposition to projects, repression of citizens’ voice on these issues, and real estate corruption.

During their stay, the Bush School team met with several institutions and residents of Mexico City who are concerned about the lack of serious urban planning as well as the corruption in the city’s processes of granting building permits and regulating real estate development in the city.  They had the opportunity to discuss the legislative process of urban planning with one of the city’s congresswomen, Dunia Ludlow, an advocate for urban development and transparency in the government.

At the end of the spring semester, the student team will deliver a presentation and an in-depth research report. The report will include a menu of options based on other cities’ approaches to citizen participation in urban planning and will answer the overarching project question: “How can Mexico City’s planning institute engage community participation in its urban planning and programs?”

“I feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to meet with such a wide array of stakeholders, including members of Congress, developers, lawyers, think-tanks, and civic organizations. It was incredibly interesting to witness how each holds a different perspective on how it should occur, although each entity is working on fixing the same issues. However, despite their differences of opinion, these leaders continue to forge working relationships with one another to benefit the greater good,” said Bush School student Margo DeKoch.