Instead of a new airport, Mexico might build one of the world’s largest urban parks
Walking along the edge of a seasonally dry lakebed on the eastern outskirts of Mexico City, there is near perfect silence except for the occasional airplane that flies overhead. These planes flying out of a nearby airport are a reminder of the estimated US$13 billion international airport that had been planned and partially constructed on top of the seasonal wetlands native to this place.
Then, in 2018, Mexico’s new president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, canceled the project and moved forward with plans to construct what would be one of the world’s largest urban parks instead. Experts from around the world hope the project, if successful, will serve as an example to other cities of what is possible in the fight against climate change.
The size of the proposed park is nearly unfathomable from ground level, covering 12,300 hectares (30,394 acres) and stretching 16 kilometers (10 miles) from end to end. That’s about the size of 36 New York Central Parks or more than twice the size of Manhattan.
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Words by Paul Biasco