The sidewalk: between traffic and other uses, the challenges of a hybrid urban order

Abstract

Through a case study of the sidewalk in the Mexico City metropolitan area, we use the notion of hybrid order to understand the variable place that mobility and public space occupy in the ongoing logics of the material, social and cultural production of different sidewalks. This proposal contributes to a critique of European-centric conceptions of public spaces and underlying dichotomies. The production and governance of sidewalks are inscribed within a culture of informality common in Latin American, but the concept of hybrid order can be extended to other objects and other contexts. We conclude that the interest in walking and the sidewalk can lead to a disruption of the conventional hierarchy that places at the bottom end of governance the management of uses, by integrating it upstream in the decision-making, planning and design processes.