Xochimilco Ecological Park

Project Name: Xochimilco Ecological Park Location: Mexico City, Mexico 🌎 Landscape Design: Grupo de Diseño Urbano S.C. Award: 2024 ASLA The Landmark Award 🏆 "Opened in 1993, this park won numerous awards, was exhibited worldwide, and became an iconic landmark of Mexico City. The project demonstrates that ecology and design are not inherently opposed. In recent years, the park deteriorated but underwent extensive restoration. Today, it has fully recovered, attracting countless visitors. This ambitious project revives lost ecosystems, beautifully harmonizing nature and design to sustain all life forms, leaving a legacy of achievement and renewal." —2024 Awards Jury The restoration and development of Xochimilco’s lake area was a major initiative by the Mexican government after its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. The plan covers 3,000 hectares of the Chinampa zone, including the ecological park, a plant market, and a sports park. The design team led the entire Xochimilco Ecological Park (PEX) project, spanning 277 hectares and divided into northern and southern sections by Anillo Periférico Sur Road. The northern area features a plant and flower market 🌸 and Cuemanco Sports Park, while the southern zone comprises the ecological park alongside Huetzalin and Acitlalin Lakes. The park’s wetlands and lakes support over 200 native and migratory bird species 🦅, offering recreational activities, sports facilities, and museum exhibits. Its design revives the hydrological and topographical history of the Mexico Valley, with a central axis framing views of sacred mountain peaks. In recent years, the park faced degradation, urgently needing restoration. From 2019 to 2020, the team executed a comprehensive revival: cleaning wetlands, optimizing lakes, planting 1,500+ native trees 🌳, and adding educational signage and eco-art installations. Today, Xochimilco Ecological Park thrives once more, drawing families, joggers, and birdwatchers—especially from southern neighborhoods craving open spaces. Reflection: This project’s brilliance lies in the landscape team confronting the collapse of its original design and rebuilding it into a renewed public space for a new era. 💡 It’s a reminder to all designers: we collaborate with nature—a dynamic ecosystem vulnerable to disasters and shifting trends, yet always a witness and participant in time. Sustainability isn’t just a trend; it’s how we let nature’s own rhythms stitch together different epochs through design. 🌿⏳ #LandscapeDesign #UrbanRenewal #SustainableArchitecture #MexicoCity #ASLAAward #EcoRestoration #NatureMeetsDesign