Neighborhood assemblies in Mexico City.

The case of Azteca 215, or the right to inhabit as an exercise of citizenship.

Abstract

In the Mexican capital, the adoption of the neoliberal model has led to important changes that involve the complex of social actors. This context is posing for the local society the double challenge: developing a shared vision of the metropolis and agreeing on the rules to guide its future. The foregoing has resulted in a diffuse conflict that reflects the diversity of interests and visions of citizen groups, which reveals the power relations that run through the metropolis, where groups of citizens are deprived of the right to decide on the future of their territories and their forms to inhabit them. In the presentation, based on a group interview, participant observation sessions and analysis of documentary material, we will analyze the conflict around the Aztecas 215 project (in the Coyoacán Municipality, Mexico City) from the perspective of the production of space and inhabiting, to account for the citizen proposal promoted by the neighborhood assembly.