El espacio público como eje de la seguridad: transformaciones urbanas y políticas públicas

Abstract

Due to the recent crisis of violence in Mexico, different policies have been proposed to confront this problem. One of the strategies most used locally is the creation or recovery of public spaces in neighborhoods with high crime rates. However, insecurity not only does not decrease, but the indicators point to a rebound in violence. The article presents the Barrios Tradicionales case, in Toluca, Mexico. The methodology is based on the analysis of three dimensions: urban design; community and social function; and territorial analysis. From this, it is recognized that there are som effects improving security, of the interventions, but those are partial and temporal; that political criteria determines, more than urban planning, the success or failure of a public policy; and, finally, people is not considered in decision making, which decreases the possibility of achieving true improvements. So, it is essential to rethink public and urban security policies.