Welcome Address
Antonio del Valle Perochena, President of the Administration Council of Kaluz
Mexico City, December 6, 2016.- On Tuesday, at 3 pm, Antonio del Valle Perochena, Chairman of the Board of Grupo Empresarial Kaluz opened the CoRe Foro Urbano CDMX 2016. The forum took place in Estacion Indianilla, a venue to which he attributed special importance, since “the trolleys that once moved this city in the first half of the 20th century were housed here; it is a silent witness of the electric and sustainable transportation of the past”.
To provide a clear context for this forum, he talked about two possible cities, quoting Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities. “In the story,” he said, “one city is in progress and the other one is sinking into chaos. Today, I would like to talk about two imaginary cities. One is collapsing due to traffic jams and stress, leading to lost time; the other, instead of using the car, offers different means of transportation, a place where services are no more than 5km away from anyone, a place with good public spaces for all levels of society. These are the two options we face today for Mexico City”.
Del Valle Perochena stated that his analogy is highly relevant to the city’s current situation. “The consequence of the first city is waste of time. People often lose at least two hours a day being stuck transportation in the city. This is unmeasurable, both in terms of money and quality of life”.
Is there a solution to this chaos, anguish and lack of productivity? “If you ask me”, he said, “I’m convinced that our beloved city has everything to revert what we have been doing over the past decades. However, there is a long road ahead and much to be done”.
Del Valle Perochena presented CoRe Foro Urbano CDMX 2016 as a space where different experts will discuss how to best return a good quality of life to the city, revolving around four themes: “Mobility”, “Public Space”, “Zoning” and “Social Participation and Responsibility”.
While these themes are not new, their implementation still has a long way to go. For example, “we just have to see how the neighborhoods of Condesa and Roma have been transformed; there are people changing their lifestyle to improve the city. However, as citizens and authorities, we are compelled to bring these options to everyone, and to convince them that this is not only a feasible model, but a necessary one for the city’s survival”.
He ended his participation by challenging the panelists that will be participating in the two-day event: “We have gathered the best experts to talk about our city. I would like to invite you to dedicate your effort, talent and intelligence to make one or two short-term actions that could be carried out right away to make a better city for all”.