Right to the City, Rights in the City

Abstract

This article examines the notion of “right to the city” in the context of Mexico City. To this end, the author analyzes the current legal conditions for the enjoyment and enforcement of that right through other rights related to it, and their possible inclusion in the legal system. In the analysis of legal apprehension and the justiciability of the right to the city, the article pays special attention to the status of “citizenship,” using empirical referents related to conflicts about “rights in the city”. For this purpose, special attention is paid to the conflict over the construction of the Western Superhighway in Mexico City. The paper seeks to clarify whether the concept of right to the city can be translated into concrete ways to enjoy the city, or whether, by contrast, it is merely an expression that mobilizes people yet is devoid of legal content.