Breakout Session | Cuauhnáhuac: City of Eternal Spring — A proposal to combat urban decay and insecurity
Led by INTBAU Mexico Chair Nadia Samir, this session will present the case study for a master plan tackling insecurity and urban decay through traditional urbanism in the city of Cuernavaca. The goal: regenerate cities by fostering community, connectivity, and beauty.
Cuauhnáhuac is an urban design proposal for the city of Cuernavaca, focused on the area surrounding the Adolfo López Mateos Market. The project addresses issues of urban deterioration and insecurity, challenges that are prevalent in many Mexican cities, through a traditional urbanism lens.
The project presents a replicable model for other Latin American cities facing similar problems. It proposes urban block typologies designed to enhance resident safety, along with a master plan aimed at preserving and enriching cultural heritage and natural elements.
Mexico faces a severe urban crisis linked to insecurity, which has led to spatial fragmentation and a rejection of traditional planning methods. The solution lies in raising citizen awareness about lifestyle patterns and in developing human-scaled urban proposals that foster community, walkability, and connectivity refl ective of pre-automobile cities.
The plan encourages the development of distinct neighborhoods, each with their own identity, traditions, and uses. Streets are diff erentiated by function commercial, service, residential, but always prioritize the pedestrian. Safety is a central consideration, integrated through block design that ensures clear building fronts and backs, active facades, and interior courtyards with amenities that support families, the elderly, and children.
Mixed-use development is promoted to avoid zoning segregation and ensure urban vibrancy at all times. Planning includes careful pedestrian circulation sequences, from commercial arcades to neighborhood centers.
Depending on the local safety context, block access can be controlled with gates, alleys, and security posts, closed at night and monitored during the day. While these measures are strict, they aim to protect everyday life and, in turn, allow for the preservation of our cultural heritage over time.
The principles of New Urbanism scale, beauty, materiality provide the foundation for this proposal. The relationship between facades and street dimensions is vital for human-centered design. The plan integrates urban blocks with Cuernavaca’s historic cathedral and central core, serving as a model for future city development.
Now is the time to act, to stop the decay of our cities.
About Nadia Samir Rincón
Nadia Samir Rincón is a Mexican architect and artist specialized in vernacular architecture and traditional urbanism in Latin America. She holds a degree in Architecture from Universidad La Salle and a postgraduate degree -Master of Urban Design from the University of Notre Dame, where she received the Dean’s Award for her urban regeneration project “Cuauhnáhuac.” She has furthered her training at the Royal Drawing School – Rome Global Gateway and is a recipient of the TIL Award for Latin American Architecture and Urbanism.
Nadia has collaborated on projects featured at the Venice Biennale and has been recognized in competitions such as the Barragán Prize (UNAM) and ASINEA. She currently works with the renowned fi rm Fairfax and Sammons Architects in Palm Beach and serves as President of INTBAU México, where she leads academic initiatives including the Traditional Architecture and Urbanism Summer School in Oaxaca.
Further information: INTBAU Mexico.