Socio-natural Production of Urban Rivers: Community Planning in the Paisanos River, San Luis Potosí, Mexico

Abstract

Expansive growth in cities leads to the loss of ecologically important spaces such as rivers due to their paving, channeling, and burying. Some cities have recovered their rivers through rehabilitation, restoration, and sanitation actions involving various actors, including their neighboring communities. In this work, the previous recovery elements are used within the community planning approach to elaborate a rescue plan for the Paisanos River in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Our research addresses this intermittent river as a hydric landscape resulting from the dialectical relationship between the natural, social and urban environment. The results indicate that the river is affected by pollution. Also, the community associates various problems with the river, including insecurity and crime, lack of connectivity, pollution, and the invasion of banks, which affect flora and fauna and deteriorate the soil and the quality of the water. We discuss rescue strategies from a multidisciplinary perspective combining planning and urban design based on participatory methods.