Community-based organization and participatory planning in south-east Mexico City

This paper describes the experiences of community-based organizations in se ttlements and municipalities in south-east Mexico City in participatory pla nning and in the development of local projects and new employment opportuni ties. In order to do so, popular groups joined forces with students and pro fessionals. They sought to demonstrate new models of urban and peri-urban d evelopment that met their inhabitants' needs while avoiding the chaotic inf ormal processes by which most low-income settlements develop. They also sou ght to ensure good natural resource management and the protection of their rich and diverse cultural heritage. Last but not least, they searched for n ew approaches to community-based organizational replication in harmony with the environment. This paper describes the many projects implemented in San Miguel Teotongo, Cananea and Sierra Nevada which included new schools, hea lth centres and community museums, settlement lay-outs with planned and ins talled infrastructure, markets, the protection of green areas and historic sites and the development of new agricultural products and eco-tourism. It also included community-based mapping of municipalities to allow better man agement of natural resources. The paper also describes how these initiative s have developed over the last 20 years and their role within Mexico's comp lex political changes, including their relations with different political p arties.