Abstract

PENA, Sergio. Recent Trends and Practice in Spatial Planning in Mexico: The Municipal Planning and Research Institutes. Gest. polít. pública [online]. 2012, vol.21, n.2, pp.407-449. ISSN 1405-1079.

This article analyzes the creation of municipal planning and research institutes, a phenomenon that is beginning to be institutionalized at the municipal level as spatial planning practice. There exist about 32 institutes in Mexico; the municipalities of Leon, Guanajuato and Juarez, Chihuahua, are the innovators that started to institutionalize that trend and practice. The results show that municipalities that have adopted this institutional innovation are those that are in conurbation process, experiencing accelerated rates of growth, and a good proportion are northern municipalities. The main conclusion is that there is a mismatch between the practice and goals of technical rationality and the complex and social diversity of urban municipalities that require democratic and collaborative processes and practices.

Keywords : spatial planning; collaborative planning; rational planning; planning institutes.