Ninth International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

In order to understand the phenomenon of the city it is imperative to analyze the diachronic transformation of its space and society. For instance, Monterrey, Mexico, developed exponentially over the twentieth century thanks to the emergence of industries such as the steelworks Fundidora de Fierro y Acero and the brewery Cuauhtémoc. These companies, among others, drove the sprawl of Monterrey through the development of formerly-suburban industrial neighborhoods during the mid-1900s. As the city expanded and merged with the surrounding municipalities, these highly-equipped communities became absorbed by the ever growing metro region. Though the original industries have closed or changed, their housing developments, schools, and parks, have consolidated within the city’s central vicinity. Over fifty years later these neighborhoods face the duality of representing significant pieces in the urban history of Monterrey as some of the first fully planned communities in the country, and on the other hand, having the potential of being redeveloped as mid to high-density districts thanks to the extensive infrastructure that was provided by their funding companies. The ideas of the garden city that entered Mexico during the 1950s, mainly through imitation of post-war American suburbia, make these neighborhoods prime in terms of landscape and infrastructure, while the land prices remain affordable in terms of real estate due to the stigma they carry as former working-class communities. The present study will analyze the historical and recent transformation of these neighborhoods in order to visualize their potential for redevelopment through a sensible understanding of their uniqueness.