As one of the goals of the first 100 days of government, Mayor Estrella Palacios Domínguez promised that she would completely rehabilitate 10 playgrounds and maintain 500 green areas. Well, the municipal government only installed playgrounds and did painting and maintenance work on the “green areas” of these places.
Through a request for information, the location of the 10 rehabilitated parks, the work done and the investment made were requested and this was the answer.
“Maintenance of the green areas was carried out, such as pruning weeds, pruning trees, leveling the ground, installing used tires, which were painted to delimit the green area, thus promoting recycling and the installation of a children’s play kit, which consists of a swing, a handrail, a seesaw and a slide,” was the answer.
It was said that the investment was 55 thousand pesos for each park that corresponds to the children’s play kit. When touring these parks, it is observed that they do not coincide with what is presumed in their press releases, where they talk about the “rehabilitation” and “rescue” of recreational parks.
And it is that these spaces lack green areas as such, trees, garbage cans, equipment and even good lighting, which has even caused drivers to have little respect for these places and end up parking their vehicles on top of these parks.
In the Villa de Las Flores park, on Walamo street, in Villa Unión, it was observed that there is no vegetation, that is, there is no green area as such, nor equipment such as benches to sit on, garbage cans or structure that provides shade, except for some trees already planted in the place, which are surrounded by garbage.
The children’s play area is within a large dirt lot and is only delimited with tires that were painted in colors.
The INVIES Arboledas park on Mangos Street is in similar conditions, it lacks infrastructure and good lighting; this park was visited at night and there is only one light in the play area, and the surrounding public lighting is not enough to illuminate the entire perimeter.
In this space it was observed that there are citizens who park their vehicles inside the park. Other parks visited were Villa Universidad, on Quirino Ordaz Street; Ex Hacienda de Urías, on Arenal Street, which share similar characteristics due to the lack of furniture and vegetation.
Also the one in the San Fernando subdivision, on San Marcos Street, one of the few with trees and vegetation, but where there is a storm drain that crosses the green area through which stinking water runs.
Also the one in Villa Florida, on El Quelite Street; Fovissste Arboledas, on Mangos Street; Los Magueyes subdivision, Circuito Mezquitas street and San Fernando on Manuel Clouthier Avenue, parks that were already impacted with some type of infrastructure and the only new thing are the children’s games and the colored tires, as can be seen in the application of maps when making a comparison of how these spaces looked months ago.
The Secretariat of Agrarian Territorial and Urban Development points out that the rescue of public spaces has the objective of improving the access and inclusion of people to artistic, cultural and sports services.
Among some of the guidelines, it establishes universal access and design to ensure access for people with disabilities, in addition to the equipment of the facilities, buildings, furniture, with which the population can access urban services to develop various activities.
It also distinguishes two types of infrastructure: construction, which involves the creation of new infrastructure, and adaptation, which corresponds to the modification or adaptation of elements that make up the existing infrastructure and that are deteriorated, obsolete or insufficient.
This includes green and blue infrastructure, drinking water networks, public lighting, sanitary and storm sewers and paving, that is, comprehensive projects that cover not only the polygon to be rehabilitated, but also the environment where they are located. However, the Municipality, which faces great challenges derived from urban growth, lacks a manual for the conservation and rehabilitation of public spaces.
Implementing a permanent maintenance and rehabilitation program or actions is necessary in the face of the existence of public spaces in a state of abandonment, which present severe damage to their physical and furniture infrastructure, present excessive vegetation growth or the total absence of it.
Diagnosis of parks and green areas
In Mazatlán, recreational areas, such as parks, have a surface area of 78.6 hectares, which translates into 1.6 square meters per inhabitant, as well as 3.03 hectares of plazas and esplanades, resulting in 0.1 square meters per person, reveals the Urban Development Program of the Population Center.
It also indicates that there are 487 parks in total in the city, with the City Forest being the largest with a surface area of 140,379 square meters.
It is noted that the lack of parks and green areas in Mazatlán reduces recreational options, affects environmental quality and the health of the inhabitants, also limiting opportunities for exercise and recreation and recreational options for pets.
Source: oem
