Criteria

Planed interventions and actors involved: 

1. El Tepe street art fest

What is it:

In is the street art fest, where people of La Otra Banda will be able to learn and participate in street art making, thy also will be part of the art installation in the El Tepe market. It is the first event/intervention in La Otra Banda that will start the change in the neighborhood. Furthermore it shall be a platform to show and advertise ongoing actions in LOB. Moreover it shall encourage people to participate in the in these actions, to speak up and to get involved in community work.

When and where it will happen:

The street art fest will take a place in El Tepe. We chose this location, because from the interviews with inhabitants we could concluded, that for many people of La Otra Banda it is their favorite place, the heart of the neighborhood. For the other interventions to work, first the heart needs to be put in monition and pump the energy to the other parts of La Otra Banda.

The event should not take place just once, but be repeated on the yearly basis.

Who is the main actor and why:

The main actors in the event will be organization Nueve Arte Urbano and team Morita. Nueve Arte Urbano is the organization in which many urban artists are active and which goal is to achieve the change and social cohesion through the street art.

Team Morita will organize the first event in January and include Nueve Arte Urbano into cooperation and future organization of the street art fest. 

2. Pop up park

What is it:

Pop up park is the temporary (short-term) installation in the public space. We want to create the pop up parks with the help of the inhabitants of La Otra Banda. The inhabitants should bring to the pop up park some elements (e.g. bench, table, plant, etc.) and set up the park themselves.

We want to use the pop up parks on the one hand to show people in LOB that there are some nice public spaces in the neighborhood which are not used but could be. On the other hand we will use the pop up parks to test some of our ideas. If people find them interesting and will use then, we can plan permanent arrangement.

When and where should it happen:

There are planed many pop up parks in La Otra Banda. There should be at least one in every room of the neighborhood.

Who is the main actor and why:

The main actors involved in the pop up parks would be Unlugar, deriveLab and Tech de Monterrey.

3. Pedestrian El Tepe on tianguis days

What is it:

It is idea to close the car traffic around El Tepe in days of the open market. The only people who will be able to access this part of LOB with the cars will be people who sell on the market, suppliers and residents (people who live around El Tepe). It will allow the pedestrians to feel safer around the market and people who really need to access it by car, will be able to do it more freely.

When and where should it happen:

Around El Tepe.

Who is the main actor and why:

IMPLAN – this change must happen with the permission and intervention of the city.

IMPLAN is the Municipal Institute of Planning of Queretaro. It is a public organization which describes its aim as sustainable planning and developing of La Otra Banda, taking into account economic, environmental and social factors.

4. Security 1° plan (police module and police on bikes)

What is it:

During the interviews with inhabitants of LOB, we found out that the biggest problem in the neighborhood is security. To increase feeling of security we would like to have more policemen on the bikes (just like in the UNESCO Zone) around LOB. In Order to achieve that official letter sign by xxx number of inhabitants of LOB must be submitted to the main police station.

When and where should it happen:

Whole LOB.

Who is the main actor and why:

Police of Queretaro. 

5. Community bank

What is it:

It is the bank managed and organized by the inhabitants of LOB themselves. It will provide access to banking services to the poorer residents who generally would not otherwise have access to them in traditional banks, based on lack of credit or financial history. The community bank would contribute to the economical development by issuing micro credits with low payment interest rates to business owners and other inhabitants. Possible forms of micro credits: credit for local businesses, instant credit, credit for home renovation, environmental micro credit. Community bank in La Otra Banda would be managed by community.

When and where should it happen:

For the headquarters of the bank we could use one of the abended buildings near the train station. In this way bank and newspaper will be next to each other and can involve the same man power and effort to renovate the building.

Who is the main actor and why:

The main actor in this intervention should be economy students from Queretaro. At the university there could be created the project where students have to work with the community of LOB (also the NGOs and organization that already are present there) to create community bank. The bank should be managed by the community itself, not the students, through the democratically chosen councils. 

6. Newspaper

What is it:

This intervention should increase the non-physical mobility in LOB through enabling communication between the inhabitants. It would be suggested that the communication will fallow on tree different platforms: 1) local newspaper -Mi barrio es tu casa, 2) Facebook profile for La Otra Banda, with place for every room, 3) website –http//:laotrabanda.mx. All three platforms should contain information about what is going on the La Otra Banda, news and events, opinions and wishes for changes in the city quarter. On top of that the events in La Otra Banda will be communicated to the inhabitants through the posters that will be hanging around the neighborhood/city of Queretaro.

When and where should it happen:

Step 1: La Via lunches Facebook page

Step 2: La Via and other organizations in LOB use Facebook and posters to inform the public about the changes and events in the neighborhood.

Step 3: Inhabitants start using Facebook page to communicate with each other and express their opinions and wishes about and for the changes in the neighborhood.

Step 4: La Via talks to other organizations in LOB and get them involved and excited about the idea of lunching local newspaper and website. The proper steps are being taken in order to receive a credit in the community bank for renovation of the abandoned building near train station, which will become the newspaper office.

Step 5: La Via together with other organizations lunches local newspaper and website.

Step 6: Next to Facebook and posters, the newspaper and website are be used to in inform general public about the changes and events. The other topics like education, health, environment, etc. become also the important part of the newspaper. Every inhabitant is informed that he/she can become the writer for the newspaper. The open letter section is lunched.

Step 7: People start using the spaces of the newspaper office as a meeting and information point. People begin writing for the newspaper.

Who is the main actor and why:

The coordination for those communications platforms could be in the hands of culture center – La Via - opened in 2012. La Via offers variety of free of charge activities, e.g. painting, dancing, yoga and meditation. Over 350 inhabitants of La Otra Banda are attending their coursers.

People of La Via together with other organizations (e.g. T.E.P.E., La Jarbonara, museum in the train station) and artist in La Otra Banda could be the main writers of the newspaper, website and fb profile. However, inhabitants of the city quarter should also be able to submit their article or opinion if they want to (e.g. as letter to the newspaper). La Via could inform about the opportunity to write for “Mi barrio es tu casa” its 350 visitors. They can be a starting point and spread the word further. 

7. Nursery (waste management, seeds, compost)

What is it:

The idea is to create the place called nursery where people of LOB would learn about the composting and gardening. The idea is that the people of LOB would use their roofs to do those activities. The people can use their waste to create humus on which they can grow food. The waste is for free. It is a resource which is there, but is not seen as one.

The waste is has a negative financial value (you have to pay for disposal). Maybe if people do composting they have to pay less waste fees. So gain a financial benefit by composting. The space on the roofs often is not used. In general there is a lack of space in the city, space costs money. Urban gardening can be a nice usage of that unused space.

When and where should it happen:

The nursery could have its headquarters in one of the abounded buildings near train station; it would become a neighbor to Newspaper and Bank.

Who is the main actor and why:

The main actor would become the organization CIASPE, which already teach urban gardening in Queretaro. They created event in T.E.P.E. where children learnt about the different plants and how to set up a garden.