The Neighbourhood Improvement Community Programme is an initiative by Mexico City's Department of Social Development, in coordination with the Department of Works and Services and the Department of Urban Development and Housing. The programme was implemented in 2007 and was turned into a law in 2015. At the current moment, the program is still ongoing, having developed 756 projects in 2016, which enabled social infrastructure projects to be carried out depending on the needs of the community, such as community and cultural centres, parks, site museums or recreation areas among others.
A policy process aimed at improving urban space through political participation and the Right to the City
The NICP is aimed at all social, civic, community and neighbourhood groups interested in promoting "comprehensive, sustained and participatory processes" for the physical, symbolic and cultural improvement of Mexico City's districts, neighbourhoods and colonias. The programme's goal is to develop a participatory process for the improvement and recovery of public spaces in Mexico City's districts, neighbourhoods and colonias, in special regards to those with a high level of urban decay.
The aim of this process is to promote the exercise of the Right to the City among all the inhabitants of Mexico City, in addition to improving living conditions and opportunities for the human, social and cultural development of the inhabitants of the areas that are most socially challenged and suffering the greatest urban degradation in Mexico City.
Positive results of an already consolidated Program
The main results of the program are related to an increase in the level of involvement by community members; the education and training of these members in the management and implementation of projects to physically and socially improve the urban environment; the community's appropriation and identification of the works and initiatives carried out; and the creation of links between social, civil, academic and community organisations and institutions of the Government of Mexico City
If you want to know more about the Neighbourhood Improvement Community Programme, you can find the whole case study here.