Stitching Querétaro | Public Realm Planning Studio, Querétaro, Mexico

The following work was produced for a 700-level Urban Planning Studio in collaboration with the Secretary of Mobility in Querétaro, Mexico. The studio's main purpose was to develop projects that would improve the public realm of low-income neighborhoods throughout the city. We conducted a neighborhood analysis to find the neighborhoods in the city that have the lowest predicted income (according to a regression model we developed at the equivalent level of a census block) and most concentrated physical and environmental challenges (i.e. flooding, steep slopes, as well as informal developments). Using this analysis, we selected 6 neighborhoods, one of which became the focus of my and my two partners' project.

Stitching Querétaro seeks to improve the public realm in ways that reduce inequities in access to public space and mobility in Felipe Carillo Puerto, a central western neighborhood, and across the city. Throughout Santiago de Querétaro, barriers – walls, canals, steep slopes, or uncrossable highways – separate poor communities from wealthier ones, preventing connections and interactions between different socioeconomic classes. The disparities in income, automobile ownership, and amount of public space on either side of the barrier is often stark. These inequities place a heavier burden on poor communities, where residents are more likely to depend on walking, public transportation, or biking to access economic opportunities. Stitching Querétaro seeks to use public realm and streetscape design interventions to mend these rifts in the urban fabric, and bring people together in contextual public spaces.