PROJECT PARNTER(S)
Designer: Grupo de Diseño Urbano

LOCATION
Mexico City, Mexico


GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE ELEMENTS
1Wl, 1RC, 2P, 3Bs, 4T

DESCRIPTION
Xochimilco is the last remaining part of the lake system that once filled the Mexico valley. During the height of the Aztec empire, who settled on the island in the center of the lake system, chinampas or "floating gardens" covered over 20,000 acres and supported enough crops to feed all the people of the valley. Once the Spanish arrived, the empire fell and the city began to grow, the once natural lake system began to gave way to urbanization. As the city grew, the area of Xochimilco became neglected and polluted with the city's waste water. As water shortages became an issue, the areas natural springs were diverted to provide the city with drinking water. The water within the canals became polluted and could no longer be used for agriculture.

Today, in the shadow the world's largest city, only a small portion of these chinampas remain and UNESCO declared the area a Cultural Heritage Site in 1987. In 1990, Xochimilco was declared an urban ecological park and in 1993 the massive multi-million dollar cleanup efforts began. Today the waters in the canal are much cleaner and the islands grow vegetables in the summer and flowers in the winter. The park itself provides both open space for family recreation while also supporting a landing site for migratory birds and breeding grown for the endangered axolotl salamander within the now healthy wetland ecosystem. An interpretive center welcomes visitors and provides education on the areas plants and wildlife while low-impact gravel trails weave through the landscape of native plants and wetland grasses. Visitors can also choose to explore the canals with a guide on a trajinera, or flat bottom boat, rented at a few locations at the edge of the canals.

While the park itself is an amazing effort in urban environmental restoration, the chinampas themselves are not only historical artifacts but are a model of sustainable agriculture. Each "island" is lined with willow trees to act as natural stabilizers. Organic debris is pulled from the canals to use as fertilizer and the algae that grows on the water's surface is harvested to help enrich the soil and maintain its fertility.


PHOTOS AND DRAWINGS


LESSONS LEARNED
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
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