The UTOPIAS initiative, a massive urban infrastructure developed and maintained through community participation, brings public services closer to 2 million people and has been recognized as the “Best Practice in Citizen Participation.”
And the winner of the Award is…
With its initiative “UTOPIAS – Units of Transformation and Organization for Inclusion and Social Harmony,” the municipality of Iztapalapa has won the 18th IOPD Award for Best Practice in Citizen Participation. On Friday, 18 October 2024, at the Award Ceremony during our 23rd Conference in Valongo, the recognition was delivered by Ana Maria Martins Rodrigues, Deputy Mayor of Valongo, to Maria Antonieta Pérez Orozco, Executive Director of Culture of the municipality of Iztapalapa, representing the former Mayor of Iztapalapa and now the current Head of Government of Mexico City, Clara Brugada, who promoted the initiative during her tenure as mayor.
This initiative was highly commended by the IOPD Jury due to its transformative potential in the territory, providing access to public services for the two million inhabitants of this peripheral municipality of Mexico City, which was once considered the megalopolis' "backyard." The participatory component was crucial in the development of this massive urban infrastructure to meet the needs of the inhabitants, who also have an active role in maintaining the space and organizing cultural, sports, and care-related activities.
“This is an extraordinary initiative, one of the few truly designed for a population of 2 million inhabitants. A massive investment has transformed what was once considered Mexico City’s ‘backyard,’ marked by violence. Most of the areas that UTOPIAS occupies are protected by social movements against developers and are reserved for the youth. I The recently elected mayor plans to expand the UTOPIAS project across the entire Mexico City, which has a population of 10 million. UTOPIAS offers a highly protected, multigenerational environment where people can engage in a wide range of activities. The goal is to create 10 to 15 of these spaces during the mayor’s term,” emphasized Yves Cabannes, one of the members of the IOPD Jury.
Six Special Mentions of the 18th IOPD Award
Six special mentions were granted to other local and regional governments for their bold participatory local action:
On this edition, in collaboration with the Phoenix Project, we also granted the Special Recognition “Durable Participatory Practices 4 Ecological Transition” to the Quezon City Government for their practice “Let’s Go QC, Let’s Grow QC!”.
The 18th IOPD Award
This edition of the award set a record with 47 countries of origin, from which 127 local and regional governments shared their participatory local democracy practices. More than just a number, this is a testament to our municipalist movement's rich diversity, innovation, and determination to advance toward a happier and more equal future built from local communities’ dreams, needs, and aspirations.
We thank all the local and regional governments who applied and everyone who made this edition possible! All the applications are compiled in this digital publication. We invite you to consult it, hoping that, as our President José Manuel Ribeiro, Mayor of Valongo, said: “it serves as a source of inspiration for all, a starting point for new ideas and projects, and a valuable tool for continuing to strengthen participatory democracy in our territories.”
Stay tuned for the next call for the 19th edition of our IOPD Award!
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