Mexico City, 8 August 2019 - Specialists from UN-Habitat and officials from the National Fund for Tourism Promotion (FONATUR) met in Mexico City recently to analyze the project “Integral Strategy on Urban and Territorial Development for Southeast region of Mexico – Corridor Tren Maya”.

The meeting is part of a collaborative process between both institutions for the initiation of the Tren Maya project. They met to exchange knowledge and experiences on best practices about the regional corridors and their impact on both sustainable development and improving peoples´ quality of life.

During this Expert Group Meeting (EGM), the participants discussed the best intervention strategies at regional, territorial and urban levels as well as the implementation mechanisms articulated in the project framework. They also unpacked the main opportunities and challenges in the development of a comprehensive strategy for the southeast region, and a possible impact containment mechanism was explored.

This congregation of experts reflected the guidelines and parameters on regional and urban planning from the spatial, social, environmental and economic perspectives. Specific recommendations were proposed for the planning and design of urban centers adjacent to the train stations in order to promote organized local development.

The objective of the EGM is to create a road map that helps efficiently implement the “Integral Strategy on Urban and Territorial Development for Southeast region of Mexico – Corridor Tren Maya”. The group of experts will share a document composed of the discussions and recommendations generated from the meetings.