Mayor Vila Dosal gives talk at Harvard on Merida housing study

Merida Mayor Mauricio Vila Dosal was in Boston Monday May 2 to give his opinions on the results of a Harvard University study on housing in Merida and Mexico in general, conducted by the university’s Graduate School of Design.

On his Facebook page, Vila Dosal noted that his expenses for travel and hotel accommodations in Boston were being paid by Harvard.

Harvard invited the mayor of Merida to give his opinion on the results of the study “Housing in Merida, urban and territorial,” an academic work led by the coordinator of that faculty, Diane E. Davis, and architect and professor at the prestigious university, Jose Castillo, both in charge of the project.

The presentation and delivery of the study represents the conclusion of a series of academic works that also included graduate students from the School of Design, which seek to generate new ideas that promote sustainable urban development of citis through the housing as the main instrument for development, Harvard reported in a statement.

Vila Dosal and the director of the Municipal Planning Institute (Implan), Edgardo Bolio Arceo, are attending as special guests of the university to give opinions on the study “Housing in Merida, urban and territorial” with students, teachers and critics, focused on solutions proposed for housing for the capital of Yucatan and in general for Yucatán.

Vila Dosal recalled that Harvard University developed for months a study on the condition of housing in Mexico and on policies and public administration.

He stressed the interest of the university and the coordinator of the School of Design, Dr. Diane Davis, by selecting Merida and surrounding areas to meet the housing situation, why the investigator interviewed several architects, officials and real estate developers to develop innovative housing proposals under an approach that analyzes the rapid growth of the urban area of the city.

The Study also analyzes the geological, socioeconomic, cultural and historical conditions influencing this urban growth and challenges for authorities and citizens arising from this situation from the perspective of planning and design.

Vila Dosal recalled that last February, attracted by the indicators in the last decade that Merida placed as one of the best cities for quality of life in Mexcio, researcher Diane E. Davis and a group of 30 students which included planners, urban designers, architects and landscapers, visited with Merida officials in order to learn about urban mobility and strategic studies for urbann planning, which form part of the study that will be presented and delivered on school premises, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Source: yucatan.com.mx