New Civic Center for the border city of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico

• Main Author: Moreno, Laura Irene
• Language: en
• Published: The University of Arizona. 2004
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10150/190221

Nogales, Sonora, is one of many cities along the international border between Mexico and the United States, and the most important border crossing for the state of Sonora. Although each of them unique, they have similar problems as a result of the accelerated economic and demographic growth, such as high migration rate, frantic activities downtown, and overwhelming traffic. These cities must act before they become larger cities with serious health, environmental and social issues; they need to boost up their economy in order to become destination points. A general condition in Nogales, Sonora is the location of downtown within the fi rst blocks south of the border. Many agencies are ‘fitted’ into pre-existing buildings, making them deficient in interior, exterior and parking space, as well as character and status. Commercial establishments and “tourist” attractions are also located here. This overloading range of ongoing activities causes them to interfere with each other. The recommendation is to remove government buildings from downtown and group them together. This effort intends to relieve the entanglement of activities in the area, allowing for commercial services and tourist activities to flourish, helping the city’s economy. Additionally, reducing the traffic flow in the first few blocks south of the border will offer a safer and more appealing entrance to Sonora from the U.S. Relocating government agencies away from downtown hopes as well to remove the flow of users (and traffic) generated by them. There is an effort to group government agencies together away from downtown The developers (private sector) of a projected Urban Center, located on the rapidly developing south part of the city, are donating 15 hectares within the area known as “El Greco” (the Greek in Spanish) destined for creation of a Civic Center. The city is lacking of character and sense of pride. The grouping of the government agencies in a well planned assemble could provide the government with a strong image and respect. This report proposes the development of design guidelines for a new Civic Center in the city of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, that may be applicable to other Mexican cities along the northern border with the U.S. These design guidelines will facilitate the development of the Civic Center, as an integral part of the Urban Center, as well as of the city itself. This report culminates in the creation of a prototype Master Plan for the proposed site applying the design guidelines resulting from the research. Introducing Landscape Architecture principles hopes to sensitize and educate a culture that is unaware of the potential and benefits of this discipline. The document will provide a Landscape Architecture approach towards exterior space; specifically within a government building assemble.