Remembering Cuauhnáhuac: Traditional Urbanism and Reconstruction of Civic Life in Cuernavaca, Mexico

Abstract

This article examines the historic urban structure of Cuauhnáhuac, the pre-Columbian settlement that gave rise to the present-day city of Cuernavaca, as a starting point for reconsidering the role for traditional urbanism in rebuilding civic life in the face of contemporary urban challenges. Over the twentieth century the city experienced rapid peripheral growth, fragmentation of its urban fabric, and growing car dependency—processes which weakened the cohesion of the historic center and undermined the role of public space as a venue for meeting and social interaction. Setting out from a masterplan for the vicinity of the Adolfo López Mateos market, the article proposes that principles of traditional urbanism be recovered and that the memory of Cuauhnáhuac may become an instrument for contemporary urban regeneration.