Mexico City workshops: Unveiling a new TOD manual

Planning staff from the cities of Culiacán and Ciudad del Carmen working on their ideas for distributing mixed uses.

CDG Director Antonio M. Rosell, P.E. presented two sustainable transportation and placemaking workshops in Mexico City as part of the unveiling of a new TOD manual developed by CTS México (an NGO working on sustainable transportation issues in the country).

The workshops, which took place between June 3-4 2010 at the Mexico City headquarters of Infonavit (Mexico's national funding agency for affordable housing), convened more than 60 urban planning and design professionals representing sixteen municipalities across Mexico.

The new manual and DOTS (Desarrollo Orientado al Transporte Sustentable) concept expand the TOD (Transit Oriented Development) definition to more broadly include design and development guidelines that not only address transit but also focus extensively on non-motorized modes.

Director Rosell led presentations and workshops for two of the four training modules covered over the two days, including a transportation session covering best practices and recommendations for non-motorized transportation, and a placemaking session offering design guidelines for activating public spaces and encouraging successful mixed use development.

The workshops, which also included the participation of Alta Planning + Design and CTS México staff, addressed many of the transportation, design and development issues that are currently most prominent for design professionals working on sustainability, design and transportation issues across Mexico.