Redesigning Vallejo-i: A metabolic approach to the decarbonization of the industrial sector in Mexico City
Department of Architecture
Roi Salgueiro Barrio, PI
John Fernandez
David Keith Pankhurst, RA
Department of Aeronautics and AstronauticsAfreen Sidiqqi
Department of Urban Studies and PlanningEran Ben-Joseph, Senior Advisor
UNAM Daniel Daou, Instructor
Elena Tudela, Instructor
urban footprint. Large industrial areas extend from the city center towards the north,
representing the strong territorial and economic connections with Canada and the US. Additionally, smaller industrial parks are scattered throughout different parts of the city. The industrial sector occupies around six percent of the city’s urban footprint (116 of 1840 km2) while consuming up to 30% of the total energy budget by some estimates (SENER 2021). Thus, no energy transition strategy can ignore the massive impact of the industrial sector.
In addition to being the most energy intensive land use, two other factors make
industry a strategic focus. First, industrial capacity is an important component of a
region’s economic competitiveness. Second, from an energetic standpoint, it’s crucial to find ways to integrate industry within urban centers as this would reduce energy transportation costs regarding materials, goods, and workforce. Moreover, the transition to industry 4.0 models means higher compatibility between industrial and other urban land uses.
Decarbonizing Vallejo-i. Vallejo is the most important industrial park in Mexico.
Founded by a national decree in the forties, at its peak, it was responsible for five
percent of the country’s GDP. With 1,000 companies belonging to 17 industrial
sectors, it provides 45,000 jobs. Additionally, the dry port of Pantaco is the largest
infrastructure of its kind in Latin America. Currently, one third of its building stock
stands vacant. Today, the area has been rebranded as Vallejo-i, an initiative that aims
to transform the industrial park into an “Industry 4.0” hub. However, the planned
changes in its urban and economic model are not currently accompanied by any
comprehensive energy transition strategy.
The project aims to overcome this absence by suggesting paths and design scenarios that will link Vallejo-i’s economic and energetic transition, facilitating a circular and decarbonized industrial urbanism.
With that goal, this proposal will adopt a metabolic perspective which links Vallejo-i’s local conditions to Mexico City and its region. Established methods for energy and material flows, including Material Flow Analysis (MFA), will be used to assess the baseline conditions and future low-carbon scenarios. We intend to demonstrate
potentially novel pathways for energy transitions: determining both new energetic
connections across residential and industrial sectors co-located within a single
municipal jurisdiction (of Mexico City) and clean energy production spaces. In doing
so, our research will address two key issues for decarbonizing Mexico City: the
opportunities arising from cross-sector (i.e. industrial and other sectors) coordination and resource use (a topic largely unexplored) and the need to plan the clean energy production spaces that energy transition models systematically demand.