Mexico City Coalition Dreams of Restoring Rivers

The Miguel Alemán Viaduct, a major highway through the middle of Mexico City, runs on either side of a river encased in concrete.

A coalition of academics, designers, planners, environmentalists, and artists is proposing to uncover more than 9 miles of the river—as well as the city's 44 other rivers currently serving as a drainage network.

Alejandra Sánchez Inzunza explains the proposal in CityLab. It would include public transit, bike lanes, walking paths, and green space. It would create an integrated water management system. And it would cost 15 billion Mexican pesos—or $863 million.

It's still entirely conceptual, and its main purpose is to help citizens reimagine what's possible in the built environment:

"This project shatters paradigms. It proposes to tear down a private road, which you cannot use unless you have a car. What we propose is that we remove the cars, open the pipes, and treat the water. We need to transform the model of our city," says urban biologist Delfín Montañana.