Merida venue of the forum Challenges and opportunities in the construction of sustainable cities and communities

Pablo Hernandez Garcia Auditorium of the Marista University was attended by about 350 people interested in land use planning, urban development and the environment.

There was a large attendance of students, mainly from the Architecture and Habitat Design careers, who talked directly with authorities and specialists. Also in attendance were city councilors, local municipal authorities, officials and consultants from other cities to share their experiences in the implementation of instruments for sustainable urban development.

The opinions expressed in the Inaugural Plenary “Challenges and opportunities, the challenge of the New Urban Agenda” agreed that well-planned urbanization is a transforming force to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. In addition, they discussed the challenges and opportunities facing cities and communities in the State of Yucatan in relation to the implementation of the New Urban Agenda.

In this sense, in the keynote session by Dr. Ignacio Kunz, “Experiences and paradigm shifts for Sustainable Urban Development”, the UNAM researcher evaluated the territorial planning processes in Mexico and its challenges to achieve urban growth oriented to sustainability.

In the session “Where yes and where no? Keys for the location of adequate housing”, disaggregated the necessary elements for adequate urban planning and regulation of real estate developments in Yucatan. The conversation took place between local actors such as Carlos Viñas Heredia, General Director of the Yucatán State Housing Institute; Sergei López Cantón, President of the National Chamber of the Yucatán Housing Development and Promotion Industry; Sergio Martínez León, Vice President of the Mexican Association of Municipal Planning Institutes; Claudia Mondragón Rivera, Participatory Urban Planning Specialist at UN-Habitat Mexico, and Nayely Balam Chan, Delegate of the National Workers’ Housing Fund Institute in Yucatán.

The following session entitled “Environmental and Urban Justice in the construction of sustainable cities” had the objective of reflecting on how to guarantee the protection of environmental and urban rights, as well as the conservation and development of sustainable cities. Emphasis was placed on the role of an Attorney General’s Office that guarantees these rights, and on the scope of its powers.

Moderated by Sayda Rodríguez Gómez, Secretary of Sustainable Development, the interventions were in charge of the following lawyers: Víctor Ramírez Navarro, legislative advisor and professor at UNAM; Miguel Ángel Cancino, former Environmental and Land Management Attorney of Mexico City, and William Gómez Hueso, legal consultant of Guadalajara, who agreed on the relevance of advancing in governance for sustainability.

In the session “Alliances for the implementation of Metropolitan Agendas”, moderated by Héctor Sánchez Tirado, Director of Mobility of the Institute of Mobility and Territorial Urban Development, arguments were made on the importance of collaboration and cooperation between different levels of government, local, regional and civil society actors, to carry out the successful implementation of the Metropolitan Agendas.

Expert opinions were heard from Gerardo González Herrera, legal consultant for Jalisco; Omar Aréizaga, director of Metropolitan Planning and Ordering of the Ministry of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development, and Silvana Forti, director of the urban laboratory of the Universidad Modelo.

Towards the end of the day, Eugenia de Grazia, UN-Habitat Mesoamerica Program Officer, celebrated the reflections shared in the forum based on the curiosity and originality of the Yucatan community and endorsed UN-Habitat’s willingness to continue collaborating with the State Government. This activity was organized within the framework of the urban strategy promoted by Governor Mauricio Vila through the strengthening of land use planning and sustainable urban development standards.

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