Sierra Santa Catarina-Yecahuizotl, comprehensive and contemporary rehabilitation

BACKGROUND

The Sierra de Santa Catarina is a mountain range that is located in the South-East of Mexico City, in the municipalities of Tláhuac and Iztapalapa. It is within this protected area that the YECAHUIZOTL PROTECTED NATURAL AREA

CURRENT STATE OF THE SITE.

The intervention area is a protected natural area and a priority ecological conservation area since 1994, however, the proliferation of human settlements on the slopes of the hills and volcanoes of the Sierra de Santa Catarina, has directly transgressed the environment and has caused severe deforestation.

The Yecahuizotl natura protectedl area is on land with asymmetric geometry and irregular topography, so the project will adapt to it. This ANP is made up of native herbaceous, shrubby and arboreal vegetation corresponding to grassland and scrub .It is worth mentioning that the landscape presents a marked temporality, in which in the dry season, it is configured by a dry image of brown tones, transforming in the rainy season by green tones

Due to this, the space that this ANP comprises, despite being underused by the deterioration that its facilities present, has great potential, and its rehabilitation is of great importance to increase the socio-environmental services that it can provide to the city.

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT.

Carry out a Landscape Architectural Project for the comprehensive and contemporary rehabilitation of the Yecahuizotl Natural Protected Area, designing strategies that incorporate detonating elements that reactivate the existing spaces, so as to increase the environmental services provided. In addition, the meeting and interaction of the social fabric (community) will be promoted, encouraging the security of the ANP, stimulating the social appropriation of public spaces.

III.1. Particular objectives

. • Generate a new image for the Yecahuizotl Natural Protected Area, through a contemporary design that encourages a greater influx of people and the appropriation of space, by generating an identity of the site, and the expansion of uses and activities in the different spaces.

• Reactivate the spaces covered by the ANP Yecahuizotl, by improving the current equipment, as well as executing specific interventions that trigger its conservation.


• Create a safe and controlled environment for the visitor, through the rehabilitation of the perimeter wall, the access plaza, the implementation of lighting and furniture that provide comfort to the user to circulate and use each space.

• Increase and preserve the environmental services of the ANP Yecahuizotl through the integration of clean energy and responsible management of solid waste.

• Provide accessibility to all users through the inclusive design of urban equipment.

• Enhance the biodiversity of green areas for the conservation of the ANP Yecahuizotl, by selecting a plant palette of native species and for pollinators.

• Improve existing trails by cleaning them, installing adequate furniture, signs, lighting and planting native species.

• Reforestation and creation of green areas that increase the biodiversity of the ANP and, consequently, its environmental services, in addition to increasing the aesthetic value and comfort for the user.

• Implementation of a viewpoint that allows you to appreciate the surrounding landscape, with the relevant signage and the necessary elements that invite the visitor to stay there.

• Encourage educational activities through the construction of a structure that allows it to be an observatory and, in turn, carry out exhibitions, contemplation and presentations.

• Raise awareness of the importance of pollinators by creating a garden with attractive flora. This space will be reinforced with the installation of a pavilion for seed management, seedling production, exhibitions and workshops.

• Integrate a demonstration garden in the ANP that exhibits native vegetation, in a way that motivates the visitor to conserve biodiversity.

• Develop a playful space by creating a labyrinth garden with native species.