Gran Terminal Tasquena Design Proposal, 2011

G RAN TERMINAL TASQUENA Chris Canna | Branden Clements | Torrence Law | Patrick McDonnell

Gran Terminal Tasque単a 2

Looking at the new Tasque単a Station from Taxco Plaza.

Dear Urban Mr. Bejos: We would like to present our proposed plan for Cetram Tasqueña, and thank Urban Travel Design for sponsoring this project. Gran Terminal Tasqueña emphasizes connecting Tasqueña with its surrounding neighborhoods while introducing new, more intense land uses and a grand public terminal that will make it a destination in Mexico City that also generates value for you and your investors. In addition, we would like to acknowledge our professors, Maria Arquero and Lars Grabner for all of their help and support, and would like to thank Sol Camacho and Manuel Cerventes for providing crucial information and feedback throughout our design process.

We are very excited to present our plan for Gran Terminal Tasqueña and thank you again for your support.

Sincerely, Christopher Canna M.U.P. Branden Clements M. Arch, Torrey Law, M. Arch Patrick McDonnell, M.U.P.

Gran Terminal Tasqueña 3

Gran Terminal Tasque単a from the southeast.

Gran Terminal Tasque単a 4

Contents

CETRAM Tasque単a

7

Gran Terminal Tasque単a

15

Reconnect Tasque単a

19

Build A Grand Terminal

23

Create a Destination

35

Project Implementation

47

Gran Terminal Tasque単a 5

CETRAM Tasque単a 6

CETRAM Tasqueña Mexico City is one of the biggest urban regions in the world with over 19 million residents and covering nearly 1,500 km2 (UTD).

In order for the city to function, it relies heavily on a complex transportation infrastructure featuring multiple transit modes, including North America’s second largest metro system, light rail, commuter rail, bus rapid transit and a wide variety of bus networks. Using this system, passengers take 14.8 million trips per day, and are frequently required to switch between modes (UTD).

The major transfer stations in Mexico City are called Centros de Transferencia Modals, or CETRAMs. These stations receive 4 million passengers per day, and are the primary interchanges between the metro system and Mexico City’s bus and light rail services. They are typically centered around a metro station and have substantial infrastructure for buses, most notably for “colectivos,” or micro-buses. These buses are operated by private companies and have defined but flexible routes with no fixed schedules.

There are 45 CETRAMS in Mexico City; the busiest of which are located at terminal metro stations that receive anywhere from 500,000 to nearly 1 million passengers per day (UTD). Despite their high passenger volume and importance to Mexico City’s

overall transportation infrastructure, however, the CETRAMs’ mostly consist of obsolete and dangerous infrastructure plagued by pollution, crime and inefficiency (UTD).

As a result of these poor conditions, Mexico City’s government has been attempting to improve the CETRAM’s through publicprivate partnerships and redevelopment. Most recently, Urban Travel Design redeveloped CETRAM Ciudad Azteca into a shopping mall and hospital, simultaneously improving the connection between the metro and bus infrastructure, as well as the safety and efficiency of the bus terminal. The city and investors are also looking at the redevelopment potential of CETRAMs El Rosario, Chapultepec, and Tasqueña.

Tasqueña CETRAM Tasqueña, located in Mexico City’s Coyoacán borough at the southern end of metro line 2, is the third largest CETRAM in terms of ridership with 500,000 passengers per day using its metro, light rail and bus connections. CETRAM Tasqueña is also the terminal bus station for regional bus service from southern Mexico entering the city.

Like most CETRAMs, Tasqueña suffers from two broad problems that limit its efficient and effective operation. First, the CETRAM is characterized by spatial and political fragmentation that creates inter-modal conflict and results in poorly related and maintained land use programs. Tasqueña contains a variety of businesses, and public/private institutions, ranging from the metro station to a major discount retailer to a music guild and performance theater. These stakeholders are poorly related, however. Spatially, they are separated by physical barriers such as fences and wide-open parking lots. Politically, there is little cooperation between their owners and managers, which has led to unkempt, unsafe and inefficient shared space.

Second, Tasqueña’s current form does not capture the station’s full social and economic value. Tasqueña is built at a very low density compared to its surrounding neighborhood, and has relatively few internal circulation routes. This configuration results in incoherent internal networks illegible to visitors, and increases conflicts between transit modes. The low-density also fails to maximize the full economic potential of Tasqueña’s strategic location or capture its importance as a hub and gateway with enormous daily passenger volume.

CETRAM Tasqueña 7

Context

Mexico City

Gulf of Mexico

CETRAM Tasqueña is a major hub within Mexico City, where the metro, light rail, trolley buses, microbuses and regional coach buses all meet. As the southern terminus for metro line 2, it is also a primary gateway into the heart of Mexico City for passengers coming from the city’s south and southern Mexico.

Servicio de Transportes ElÈctricos del D.F.

Conexión con

Tren Ligero Dirección Xochimilco

Mexico City

Pacific Ocean

Regional-bus Destinations

400 km radius

Tasqueña

Bus / Light Rail Service Area

Coyoacán CETRAM Tasqueña is located in Mexico City’s Coyoacán borough in an upper-middle class neighborhood called Campestre Churubusco.

The surrounding neighborhood mostly consists of single-family row homes with pockets of five to eight story multi-family buildings. Retail and commercial activity is concentrated along a series of major avenues that pass through the borough. Coyoácan also has many cultural amenities, including UNAM, Mexico’s largest university.

CETRAM Tasqueña 8

UNAM

Coyoacán Center Major Arterial Avenue

Tasqueña Metro Light Rail

Coyoacán is a low-rise, high-density borough with local retail and services concentrated on major arterial avenues.

CETRAM Tasque単a 1. Metro and Light Rail Station 2. South Microbus Terminal

9

7

3. North Microbus Terminal

10

11

8

4. Southern Regional Bus Station

3

5. Soriana: Discount Retailer and Grocer 6. Gran Forum: Music Performance Center

1

7. Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals

6

8. Metro Maintenance Sheds 9. Inter-American University for Development

5

10. Latter Day Saints Church 11. Regional Bus Maintenance

2 4

300m

1

2

3

5

CETRAM Tasque単a 9

Current Conditions

Barriers Cetram Tasqueña is currently isolated from its surroundings by a series of barriers that limit access to the metro station. An elevated highway runs along the site’s estern edge, and the metro and rail tracks run through the middle of the site and along its eastern edge, severely limiting pedestrian and vehicular access. The few entry points to Tasqueña are concentrated along its southern and northeastern edges, but even here access is constrained by two traffic clogged arterial streets with poor pedestrian infrastructure.

Within Tasqueña itself, access is further constrained by interior fences and walls that prevent crossing from one area to another and make internal pathways difficult to read and follow.

A ten foot wall protecting the train tracks runs through the middle of Tasqueña and along its western edge.

CETRAM Tasqueña 10

Av. Canal de Miramontes Access Point Rail Tracks

Interior Barriers

Av. Tasqueña

Elevated Highway Access Points

Fences and parking lots create interior barriers, like this one between Soriana and the Metro Station.

Avenue Tasqueña creates a significant pedestrian barrier between Campestre Churubusco and Tasqueña due to its high traffic flow and lack of pedestrian amenities, beyond a single pedestrian bridge.

Current Conditions

Fragmented Land Use

Gran Forum Entrance

The only current destinations in Tasque単a are the Soriana, its related businesses, and the Gran Forum. These are good potential anchors, but they are poorly related to the transit station. Fences, barriers and parking lots limit access between them and prevent pedestrians from easily passing from one to the other. They also literally turn their back on the station with front entrances facing the far western edge of the site. Informal vendors, on the other hand locate along main pedestrian paths to attract customers.

Informal Street Vendors

Barrier Fence Soriana Entrance

Existing anchors, pedestrian flows and barrier fence.

The route from the metro station to the Gran Forum has no pedestrian infrastructure and leads to the back entrance.

Fences block most of the access between Soriana and the metro station except for a single gate.

The Soriana shows its back to the metro and bus terminals.

CETRAM Tasque単a 11

Current Conditions

Low Density Form CETRAM Tasqueña has a distinctly different form compared to its surrounding neighborhoods. Open hardscape makes up 54% of the ground cover, mostly due to surface parking, and buildings have no more than two stories. The abrupt change in form at Tasqueña breaks the city’s rhythm, and creates foreign landscape at the heart of Coyoacán.

Building Footprints

23.6

12.54

4.5 2.1

1.8

Football Field

Hardscape

142,500m2

54%

Building

75,900m2

23.6%

Rail Track

27,000m2

12.5%

Vegetation

12,600m2

5%

Informal Vendors

5,600m2

2%

CETRAM Tasqueña 12

Looking northeast at Tasqueña.

Retail currently takes the form of a suburban strip mall.

Hardscape and surface parking predominate.

Current Conditions

An Invisible Terminal CETRAM Tasqueña is a major gateway into the heart of Mexico City that sees 500,000 passengers per day (UTD). Despite its importance as a gateway and transit hub, however, it has an incoherent and meek form, particularly compared to major transit hubs in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Entering Tasqueña from the southern pedestrian bridge through a cluster of informal vendors.

Continuing into Tasqueña the station is still invisible.

Tasqueña Station’s current entrances are small and narrow, and give no indication of the station’s importance.

A typical road in CETRAM Tasqueña cluttered with informal vendors. Poorly defined routes for pedestrians and buses creates significant conflict.

A regional-bus squeezes by taxis and informal vendors to reach the regional bus station.

Loading areas are exposed and cluttered by informal vendors, while inconsistent arrival and departure times leave passengers waiting.

Inefficient and Uncomfortable Infrastructure Cetram Tasqueña’s microbuses idle for up to an hour waiting for passengers, informal vendors crowd narrow passageways and unsanitary conditions predominate, creating congestion, pollution and an uncomfortable and unsafe environment for passengers. There is also significant conflict between different modes as taxis, microbuses and regional buses fight for the same territory.

CETRAM Tasqueña 13

1

3

2 6 4

9 5

Gran Terminal Tasque単a

Gran Terminal Tasque単a 14

1. North Bus Terminal 2. South Bus Terminal 3. Metro and Light Rail Station

7

4. Housing 5. Office Block 6. Hotel

8

7. Taxco Plaza 8. Cinemex 9. Regional Bus Station

Gran Terminal Tasqueña To address CETRAM Tasqueña’s spatial and political fragmentation and maximize the site’s full economic and social value, Gran Terminal Tasqueña will be a mixed-use, transit oriented development that includes: • A new Tasqueña station built to a scale consistent with its passenger volume and importance as a gateway • A new public plaza that compliments the station’s importance and creates a new center for social life in Coyoacán • Multi-family housing that meets the demand for quality residences in close proximity to public transit • Office space for firms who require convenient access to Mexico City’s other major employment centers • Retail and entertainment aimed at transit users and Coyoacán residents Three goals will guide the creation of Gran Terminal Tasqueña: reconnecting Tasqueña to its surrounding neighborhoods, building a grand terminal, and creating a destination.

Reconnect Tasqueña Tasqueña is currently disconnected from its surrounding neighborhoods by a series of physical barriers and by its lowdensity, suburban form, which creates an illegible and inefficient pedestrian and vehicular network that breaks the rhythm of the surrounding city. In order to remedy these problems, Gran Terminal Tasqueña will extend Campestre Churubusco’s grid onto the site. This will remove barriers and increase access points while improving Tasqueña’s legibility to visitors. It will also provide an new urban fabric that will facilitate higher density development. Gran Terminal Tasqueña will also redesign immovable physical barriers such as the arterial avenues in order to increase pedestrian accessibility and ease traffic congestion.

Build a Grand Terminal Tasqueña’s present built form does not reflect its importance as transit hub and gateway to Mexico City, and the relationship between its various terminals creates conflict between multiple transit modes. Gran Terminal Tasqueña, however, will have a grand public terminal combining metro, light rail and microbuses into a cohesive whole built to accommodate 500,000 daily passengers. It will also alter transit routes around the new,

urban grid in order to minimize conflict between buses, taxis and pedestrians, and introduce a new public plaza, the size of an entire city block to ease pedestrian access, frame the new station and create a focal point for the new development.

Create a Destination Given the value that access to public transit and large flows of people typically generates for landowners, Tasqueña could support much higher density development as well as a wider variety of land uses. Gran Terminal Tasqueña will introduce much higher density to the site in order to maximize its value. It will also introduce new office, retail, entertainment and housing options in an effort to create a 24 hour destination for working, living and playing. These new uses will center around a new public plaza fronting the new Tasqueña station.

Project Implementation Urban Travel Design could potentially implement Gran Terminal Tasqueña in four phases beginning with a core around Tasqueña station and Taxco Plaza, the new public plaza. The first stage will integrate the microbus terminals with the metro and light rail station, introduce new retail options inside the station and clear Gran Terminal Tasqueña 15

the way for redevelopment on the rest of the site. The second phase will establish a retail and office cluster around Taxco Plaza and Tasqueña Station that will serve as the core of Gran Terminal Tasqueña. Once established, the core is potentially self-sustaining without further development, and could act as a regional retail, entertainment and office destination. From phase two, phases three and four can flexibly react to changing market conditions and develop housing or additional retail and office space as appropriate. We recommend developing housing in these phases, however, in order to enhance the retail and office uses as well as to provide quality living opportunities in close proximity to public transit.

In addition to Gran Terminal Tasqueña’s physical implementation, Tasqueña’s various stakeholders require a new organizational structure to maintain and manage their common infrastructure.

Large open plazas and streets near transportation infrastructure require careful management in Mexico City, otherwise informal vendors and crime will occupy vacant spaces, and traffic congestion will dominate the streets. To avoid this at Gran Terminal Tasqueña, we recommend that Urban Travel Design continue its management structure for CETRAM Ciudad Azteca at Tasqueña in order to effectively maintain the station and prevent traffic congestion.

Additionally, we recommend developing a Business Improvement District (BID) around Taxco Plaza to maintain the plaza and surrounding streets and provide a safe environment for travelers and visitors. A BID is a public-private partnership that brings stakeholders together under a non-profit management structure, and provides them with revenue via a levy on area businesses or landowners. The BID uses this revenue to finance maintenance, programming and marketing efforts that benefit all BID stakeholders.

Gran Terminal Tasqueña 16

Goals

1 Reconnect Tasqueña

2 Build a Grand Terminal

3 Create a Destination

Challenges

Objectives

Significant physical barriers between Tasqueña and surrounding neighborhoods.

Incoherent and lowintensity built form limits accessibility to transit and fails to maximize the site’s value.

•

Extend city grid into Tasqueña to remove barriers, create new access points and increase internal legibility

•

Redesign Ave. Tasqueña and Canal de Miramontes to lessen barrier between Tasqueña and neighborhoods

Connections between transit modes are inefficient and uncomfortable. The station design and environment do not reflect the station’s passenger volume.

•

Redesign Tasqueña station and public space to emphasize its importance as a gateway and transit hub

•

Redesign transit station and circulation to limit conflict and increase transit efficiency

•

Reorganize station management to increase transit efficiency and maintain station

Low-intensity and fragmented land use fails to take advantage of the value generated by proximity to public transit. Fragmented political and ownership structures result in inefficiency and poor maintenance of public spaces.

•

Create a regional shopping, entertainment and work destination

•

Redevelop underutilized land to take advantage of proximity to public transit

•

Create opportunity for people to live in close proximity to public transit

•

Organize stakeholders to effectively manage and maintain public space

Gran Terminal Tasqueña 17

Reconnect Tasque単a 18

Gran Terminal Tasque単a residential street.

Reconnect Tasqueña Cetram Tasqueña is poorly connected to its surrounding neighborhood, which inhibits easy and efficient access to its stations, and restricts its full development potential.

Significant physical barriers limit vehicular and pedestrian access to site, and the lack of a coherent internal street network makes it difficult to navigate. As a result of this poor basic framework, CETRAM Tasqueña suffers from fragmented and low density land use that fails to capture the full value that proximity to a major transit hub should produce for landowners and the community as a whole.

In order to address these deficiencies, Gran Terminal Tasqueña will extend Campestre Churubusco’s urban grid onto the site, which will create new access points, and create a more coherent internal street network easily legible to visitors. Extending the grid will also provide a backbone well suited to high density urban development.

In addition, Gran Terminal Tasqueña will remove many of the internal barriers that currently limit access between transit modes and different programs as well as between Tasqueña and its surrounding neighborhood. This is partly accomplished by extending the city grid, which will provide greater visual and physical accessibility to the station and between different programs. It will also be accomplished by redesigning the arterial avenues surrounding the site, which are currently congested and lack basic pedestrian infrastructure,

Challenges •

Significant barriers between Tasqueña and its surroundings

•

Internal barriers fragment land uses and create illegible internal network

•

Low density built form in a location capable of supporting much higher density

Proposed Improvements •

Extend city grid into Tasqueña to remove barriers, create new access points and increase internal legibility

•

Redesign Ave. Tasqueña and Canal de Miramontes to lessen barrier between Tasqueña and neighborhoods

Gran Terminal Tasqueña 19

Urban Grid Extending Campestre Churubusco’s grid into Tasqueña removes barriers and increases the number of access points onto the site for pedestrians and vehicles. It also provides a legible and easy to navigate internal network for visitors and residents, and a backbone for developing higher, urban densities.

Grid extension removes barriers, increases access.

Gran Terminal Tasqueña picks up on the surrounding block pattern and provides a legible form.

Grid allows an urban form consistent with surrounding neighborhoods.

Photo from Google Street View

Reconnect Tasqueña 20

Pedestrian Streets Strengthening Tasqueña’s connection to its surrounding neighborhoods means creating a pedestrian scaled street network that supports urban density. This includes the major arterial roads that surround the site, particularly Avenues Tasqueña and Canal de Miramontes.

Enhancing the pedestrian infrastructure on these streets will make the grid extension more meaningful, turning a major barrier into a seam.

A

Av. Tasqueña current condition (above): cluttered, narrow medians with no pedestrian amenities.

B

Widened Median On-Street Parking

Sidewalk w/ Bioswale

3m

Residential Street proposed

10m

Handicap Accessible Curb

10m

3m

Narrower Lanes Reduce Traffic Speed

7m

10m

Section AB

Avenue Tasqueña proposed

Gran Terminal Tasqueña Scale: 1 cm = 2 m

21

Build a Grand Terminal 22

Gran Terminal Tasque単a metro station platform.

Build a Grand Terminal Challenges Tasqueña receives 500,000 passengers each day, making it the third busiest CETRAM in Mexico City. Most of these passengers come from the city’s southern boroughs or southern Mexico, and, for them, Tasqueña’s metro connection makes it a gateway to the entire city. Therefore, the station is not only an important hub, but also a major entry point into the largest and most important city in Mexico.

CETRAM Tasqueña’s physical form gives no indication of its importance, however. Instead, it welcomes people with a cramped, chaotic environment characterized by inter-modal conflict, poor visual access and unsanitary conditions.

Gran Terminal Tasqueña, however, will create a grand public terminal by clearly integrating the microbus terminals with the metro and light rail station. This new station will have large open spaces and vaulted ceilings in order to provide an environment consistent with Tasqueña’s high passenger volume. The new station will also

contain new retail options that take advantage of its high passenger volume and provide services to transit users.

This retail will provide the necessary funding to improve transit infrastructure management, particularly for microbuses on a model similar to Urban Travel Design’s structure at CETRAM Ciudad Azteca. Improved management along with the greater spatial control provided by integrating the terminals will greatly improve passenger comfort and transit efficiency at Tasqueña.

Finally, a grand public space, Taxco Plaza, the size of a full city block, will frame Tasqueña Station and emphasize its importance. It will also create clear visual access to the station and channel pedestrian flows, while a providing retail, entertainment and work options to transit users and visitors.

•

Station form does not communicate its importance as a major transit hub and gateway to Mexico City

•

Inter-modal conflict and congested entry and exit routes

•

Uncomfortable and unsafe user experience

Proposed Improvements •

Redesign Tasqueña station and public space to emphasize its importance as a gateway and transit hub

•

Redesign transit station and circulation to limit conflict and increase transit efficiency

•

Reorganize station management to increase transit efficiency and maintain station

Gran Terminal Tasqueña 23

Grand Terminal In order to create a grand terminal fitting Tasqueña’s importance and passenger volume, we propose moving the south microbus terminal, and creating a public plaza the size of a full city block in front of Tasqueña Station.

The station itself would also be modified through a new facade and concourse meant to act as a true gateway to Mexico City. The combination of Taxco Plaza, flanked by shops, cafés and offices, and Tasqueña Station creates a grand terminal and opens the station to its surroundings, creating a new landmark for Coyoacán.

1. Taxco Plaza 2. Tasqueña Station Concourse 3. South Microbus Terminal 4. North Microbus Terminal

4

3

2

A

B

1

Gran Terminal Tasqueña Floor Plan. The plaza continues into the station through its new, open facade and consistent paving into the station’s first level.

Taxco Plaza

SPO_001

50m Build a Grand Terminal 24

SPO_002

Section AB

Looking at the new Tasqueña Station from a café on Taxco Plaza.

Gran Terminal Tasqueña 25

Taxco Plaza Programming

New Years Celebration

“Zócalo Square” by Photolibrium Flickr Creative Commons

Build a Grand Terminal 26

Outdoor Concerts

“Plaza Mayor” by Peter Curbishley Flickr Creative Commons

Cafés on the Plaza

June

May

April

March

February

January

Public spaces require consistent programming, particularly near CETRAMs, to avoid informal vending, crime or neglect. For that reason, Taxco plaza is designed to accommodate a wide variety of uses.

Interactive Fountain

“Atlanta Fountain” by Russbengtson Flickr Creative Commons

Film Festival

“Movie on the Tundra” by kcolwell Flickr Creative Commons

Public Art Exhibition

“Art Museums Struggle” by MexicoReporter Flickr

December

November

October

September

August

July

Volley Ball Tournament

Tianguis

Independence Day Celebration

“Mexican Independence Day” by Jan’s Cat Flickr Creative Commons

Christmas Market Día de los Muertos Celebrations

“Dia de los Muertos Parade” by Jennifer Janviere Flickr

“Downtown Holiday Market” by afagen Flickr Creative Commons

Gran Terminal Tasqueña 27

Tasque単a Station The new Tasque単a Station features an open floor plan and large interior spaces that reflect its importance as a major transit hub and gateway into Mexico City. It also brings the metro, light rail and bus terminals into one clearly defined space by extending the station walls around the bus terminals and integrating retail and services along the paths between modes.

Retail

Soriana Second Level

Clinic

North Microbus Terminal

Existing Stairs

Retail

South Microbus Terminal

First Level Retail

Build a Grand Terminal 28

50m

Looking at the South Microbus Terminal from the metro tracks toward Tasque単a Station.

Elevators/Escalators to Microbuses

Elvated Walkway over Metro Tracks

Long Span Tensile Structure

50m

Gran Terminal Tasque単a 29

Building on Existing Station The proposed metro station plugs into the existing transit infrastructure maintaining use of existing stairs and first level columns. The long span structure reduces columns on the second level and opens up views to the metro platforms, improving visual and physical access to the metros.

Existing Second Level Circulation

Gran Terminal Tasque単a Second Level Circulation

Create a Destination 30

Entrance into Tasque単a Station.

Gran Terminal Tasque単a 31

Circulation In order to improve traffic circulation and reduce conflict between different modes, Gran Terminal Tasque単a separates car and regional bus circulation from microbus routes and establishes complete streets with pedestrian and bike infrastructure. This is made possible by extending the surrounding city grid onto Tasque単a, which increases the number of access points and available circulation routes.

Existing Circulation

Metro and Light Rail

Gran Terminal Tasque単a Circulation

Pedestrian

Build a Grand Terminal 32

Bus

Bicycles

Cars

Case Studies

Zurich Hauptbahnhof Like most large European train stations, Zurich Hauptbahnhof is a grand public space with a prominent facade facing a large public plaza, and an open interior plan that emphasizes its importance as well as the importance of Zurich as a whole. The station is also a social center that includes over 100 shops, 38 restaurants and basic services such as banking, post boxes and tourism information all integrated into the station itself (SBB, ShopVille). These retailers and service providers thrive with 300,000 passengers using Zurich HB each day, and make the station a destination in its own right (SBB, Joint Project).

Gran Terminal Tasqueña will follow the lead of stations like Zurich HB and take on a grander form that reflects Tasqueña’s importance as a major transit hub with 500,000 daily passengers.

Specifically, the metro station entrance will have a new facade and vaulted concourse that fronts a new public plaza, Taxco Plaza, that will enhance the station’s stature. Additional retail will also be incorporated into the station in order to take advantage of its passenger volume and provide services to busy commuters.

(“Zurich Train Station” by Colin Eles Flickr Creative Commons

“Zurich Train Station” by Drogonroy, Flickr Creative Commons)

CETRAM Ciudad Azteca Ciudad Azteca is a CETRAM located in Estado de México at the end of metro line B. In 2008, Urban Travel Design received a 30 year lease on the CETRAM and entirely rebuilt the station.

Specifically, they enclosed the micro-bus terminal and added a retail mall and hospital above. They also updated the management structure and technology in order to provide greater security and passenger comfort. By taking greater control over the space, they were able to eliminate informal vending from the bus waiting areas and more strictly enforce bus schedules, thus reducing waiting times for passengers as well as congestions from idling buses.

Learning from Ciudad Azteca’s success, Gran Terminal Tasqueña will also establish greater control over the micro-bus terminals in order to remove informal vending and provide clean and comfortable waiting areas for passengers. The station will accomplish this by bringing the bus terminals within its walls and creating clearly defined waiting areas for each bus based on its destination. Gran Terminal Tasqueña will accompany this design change with improved management and security technology that will greatly reduce crime and improve station maintenance. As at Ciudad Azteca, adding new retail options targeted at passengers will provide the financing necessary to implement these changes.

Advanced surveillance technology and active management at Ciudad Azteca help keep informal vendors and crime at bay, while efficient management of the microbuses decreases waiting times and congestion.

Photos by Katie Baldwin, Megacentralities

Gran Terminal Tasqueña 33

Create a Destination 34

Taxco Plaza looking at Tasque単a Station.

Create a Destination Currently, CETRAM Tasqueña is a place people pass through on their way to other destinations within Mexico City or Southern Mexico.

Gran Terminal Tasqueña, however, will be a destination in its own right with opportunities to live, work and play within easy walking distance of the station itself.

Gran Terminal Tasqueña accomplishes this by introducing new retail, entertainment, office and housing programs to Tasqueña at a much higher density than is currently present. This higher density captures the value created by proximity to public transit and large daily passenger volumes, and creates a true destination that has the potential to be an active, lively place 24 hours a day 365 days a year.

New dining, shopping and entertainment options aimed at Coyoacán’s middle class residents as well as transit users will center around Taxco Plaza and Tasqueña station. New office space aimed at back-office operations

for larger Mexican and international firms as well as boutique firms, such as law offices, will also focus on the plaza allowing them to take advantage of Tasqueña’s connectivity to other major employment centers in the city.

Gran Terminal Tasqueña will also feature multifamily housing aimed at families, young adults and students who desire close proximity to public transit in order to reach school, work, shopping and entertainment.

The combination of these uses along a new, legible, urban street grid will create value that is greater than the sum of its parts as office workers eat lunch in Taxco Plaza during the day, business travelers stay in the hotel, residents catch dinner and a movie after work, or visitors from surrounding neighborhoods go shopping and enjoy a concert in the plaza.

Challenges •

Tasqueña is not a destination in and of itself

•

Low intensity and fragmented land uses fail to take advantage of the value generated by proximity to public transit

•

Fragmented political and ownership structures creates land assembly and maintenance problems

Proposed Improvements •

Create a regional shopping, entertainment and work destination

•

Create opportunity for people to live in close proximity to public transit

•

Redevelop underutilized land to take advantage of proximity to public transit

•

Organize stakeholders to effectively manage and maintain public space

Gran Terminal Tasqueña 35

South Micro Bus Terminal Concourse 6,000m2 Office Towers Office 19,000m2

Hotel 200 Rooms

Tasque単a Station Retail 3,500m2 Concourse 4,000m2 Clinic 1,500m2

North Micro Bus Terminal Concourse 7,600m2

Housing Total Units 450 1 bdr 200 2 bdr 100 3 bdr 70 Live/work 80

Office Towers Office 1,500m2 Cinemex 8 Screens Taxco Plaza Retail 13,750m2 Office 19,000m2 Open Space 13,000m2

Total Build Out 107,800sm2 Retail 14,000sm2 Office 54,000sm2 Hotel 4,300sm2 Residential 35,500sm2

Create a Destination 36

Retail

Transit

Office

Hotel

Residential

OFFICE NEIGHBORS VISITORS TRANSFER

Gran Terminal Tasqueña’s programming will create a 24 hour destination active everyday of the week. Each program will draw and benefit different users at different times of day and different days of the week. For example, a resident would be able to live at Tasqueña, use the transportation infrastructure to commute to work, and then meet friends for a drink and a movie on Taxco Plaza.

RESIDENT

A 24 / 7 Destination

MONDAY lunes

TUESDAY martes

WEDNESDAY miercoles

THURSDAY jueves

FRIDAY viernes

Trasportation

Hotel

Station Retail

Office + Plaza Retail

SATURDAY sabado

SUNDAY domingo

Housing

Gran Terminal Tasqueña 37

Taxco Plaza Taxco Plaza will be Gran Terminal Tasqueña’s center for retail, entertainment and office.

It will include shopping and dining options aimed at middle class Coyoacán and Mexico City residents as well as a movie theatre and performance space on the plaza itself. Office space will attract back office operations for large firms as well as smaller boutique firms.

soriana

Restaurants • VIPS • Sanborns Café • El Globo • Independent Cafés

The retail is well positioned to take advantage of pedestrian flows to and from Tasqueña Station and will activate the plaza while Turning Tasqueña into a shopping and entertainment destination. Office space will also benefit from proximity to Tasqueña’s hotel, retail and entertainment programs, because they will give clients, business travelers and office workers an attractive environment for lunch and afterwork activities.

Entertainment • Cinemex • Bars • Discothèques

cinema

Create a Destination 38

Potential Retail Tenants Stores • Sanborns • Fabricas de Francia • Zara • H+M • Gandhi Bookstore • Independent Boutiques

boutique office majorback brands office service office independent boutiques basic retail major brands boutique independent high-end restaurant basic retail independent café grab nhigh go end restaurant independent cafe grab n go

boutique office back office office service visitors office workers

Potential Office Tenants Back Office Operations • Coyoacán Pharmaceutical Companies • Firms Headquatered on la Reforma and other major employment centers Boutique Office • Gran Forum practice facilities and offices • Law Firms • Architectural Firms • Small Consulting Firms

Hotel Gran Terminal Tasqueña will include a ten story, 200 room hotel that will punctuate Taxco Plaza and act as a local landmark. The hotel is meant to complement the offices on site and in the surrounding area by providing easy access to public transportation and entertainment for business travelers. It also has conference and auditorium space available.

Swimming Pool Sky Bar

Outdoor Café

Auditorium

50m Gran Terminal Tasqueña 39

A

Housing Gran Terminal Tasqueña will introduce housing in close proximity to public transit, shopping and entertainment as well as basic services.

This will meet demand for housing that provides an urban setting and does not require a car for daily activities, and should prove particularly attractive for young adults, students and families.

Underground Parking

Shared Courtyard

Gran Terminal Tasqueña Housing Total Units 450 • 1 bdr 150 • 2 bdr 150 • 3 bdr 70 • Live/work 80 Average Unit Size 100m2

Landscape Buffer

Underground Parking B

Shared Courtyard

50m

Create a Destination 40

Roof-top Terrace

Section A-B

Two Bedroom Unit Single Story

Bridge Floors

One Bedroom Unit Single Story

Live Work Units Two Story

Middle Floors

Green Roof

Terrace

Double Height Glazing

Balcony First Floor Scale: 1 cm = 2 m

Gran Terminal Tasque単a 41

Landscape Strategy Landscape is an integral part of Gran Terminal Tasque単a that utilizes native species to give each area a unique identity that helps visitors navigate the neighborhood. Trees in the housing area serve as buffers, the oak on the southern edge sheltering the housing from busy Avenida Tasque単a while the alders shield the buildings from harsh western sun all year long. The shrubs line the pedestrian pathways, creating a sense of continuity as one traverses the site laterally. The swales planted with high grasses on the eastern side of the housing serve as areas for on-site water management.

Lastly, the courtyard gardens within the housing blocks contain fruit-bearing trees, providing a fragrant experience to the residents allowing them to utilize and consume the fruit that is produced.

Trees

Shrubs Mexican Alder

Yucca

Oak

Buttercup Bush

Fruit Trees Avacado Black Cherry Mexican Hawthorn

Create a Destination 42

Grass

Species (Mexican)

Aile

Encino

Liquidamber

Yuca

Species (U.S.)

Mexican Alder

Oak

American Sweetgum

Yucca

Height

6-20 m

7-25 m

15 m

Coverage

>7m

6-10 m

Flowering Period

November and May

April to June

Uses on Site

Retama de Tierra Caliente

Aguacate

Capulin

Tejocote

Hierba de Pluma

Buttercup Bush

Avocado

Black Cherry

Mexican Hawthorn

Mexican Feather Grass

n/a

1-4.5 m

15 m

5-15 m

4-10 m

0.7 m

6-8 m

n/a

1.5-4 m

8-10 m

6-9 m

4-6 m

n/a

March to June

April to June

April to August

May to July

March to May

March to September

n/a

Lining pedestrian pathways

Lining pedestrian pathways

Couryard gardens in housing

Couryard gardens in housing

Couryard gardens in housing

Swales on east side of housing

Lining Shading on surrounding Lining east west side of side of avenues; housing creating buffer Taxco Plaza from roads

Photograph

Source: Rodríguez Sanchez, Luis M. and Eréndira J. Cohen Fernández.

Gu´â de Árboles y Arbustos de la Zona Metropolitana de la Diudad de México. Flexíon, 2003.

Gran Terminal Tasqueña 43

Parking Even though Gran Terminal Tasqueña is a transit oriented development parking will remain important in order to have viable retail, office and housing programs. Underground parking structures will be developed throughout the site and provide 1,300 hundred spaces for office workers, residents and visitors. If parking demand exceeds expectations, the initial structure can easily scale up by increasing the number of underground levels, or by adding more underground parking in the residential area.

Gran Terminal Tasqueña Parking Total 1,300 On-street 150 spaces • Underground Structured 1,150 •

Current Parking Total 1,085 • Surface Parking 1,085

Create a Destination 44

Residential Parking

Parking for retail, office and hotel Parking for retail, office and residential Parking for retail, office and Regional Bus Station

Business Improvement District (BID) Many of CETRAM Tasqueña’s problems will not disappear through design changes alone, because they are symptoms of its fragmented political and ownership structure, which prevents cooperation between stakeholders. A Business Improvement District (BID) centered around Taxco Plaza, however, could provide these stakeholders with a means of working together as well as a stable funding source to finance maintenance and security throughout Gran Terminal Tasqueña.

BIDs are non-profit, public-private partnerships used to fund improvements and maintenance within a defined area, usually adjacent to a large public space, or in a city’s central business district. They receive revenue by charging a levy on businesses or property owners located within the BID boundary, and use these funds to finance maintenance, programming and marketing.

A board of directors oversees the BID, and contains members elected by local business and property owners, as well as local government officials and community representatives. This structure allows multiple stakeholders to come together and manage commonly shared space with a stable revenue source. Day-to-day BID management is typically handled by full-time staff hired by the board of directors.

BID Structure and Activities Financing Methods Levy Property or Business Owners Public / Private Grants Management Structure Board of Directors • Property or Business Owners • Local Government Officials • Community Representative

Potential BID area for Gran Terminal Tasqueña.

Full-Time Staff • Chief Executive Officer • Security/Maintenance • Event Planning • Marketing Activities

Maintenance Security • Litter removal • Capital Improvements •

Programming • Concerts • Markets • Sporting Events • Art Fairs Public Relations • Advertise Special Events • Create District Brand • Market District to Visitors

Business Improvement Districts providing financing for security and maintenance staff as well as public art installations and streetscape improvements. A BID could be used in Gran Terminal Tasqueña to manage public spaces that are currently unsafe, dirty and poorly used. (Photos from www.goldentriangledc.com) Gran Terminal Tasqueña 45

Project Implementation 46

Gran Terminal Tasque単a final build out.

Project Implementation Gran Terminal Tasqueña will require careful implementation to achieve its three goals: Reconnecting Tasqueña, Building a Grand Terminal and Creating a Destination.

Reconnecting Tasqueña means extending Campestre Churubusco’s grid onto the site thereby creating greater access from surrounding areas, and laying a foundation for creating urban density. It also means removing the physical barriers within Tasqueña itself, and redesigning the major arterial avenues that surround the site in an effort to improve pedestrian accessibility and relieve congestion.

Building a Grand Terminal requires redesigning Tasqueña Station to more cohesively integrate bus service with the metro and light rail, and to reflect Tasqueña’s importance as a hub and gateway to Mexico City. It also involves building a new public plaza in front of the station to enhance its image and provide visual and physical accessibility.

Creating a Destination means introducing new and denser programming to Tasqueña that will take advantage of proximity to public transit and high passenger volumes. By bringing office and housing to Tasqueña and substantially increasing the amount of retail, Gran Terminal Tasqueña will become an active, 24 hour destination.

Urban Travel Design could potentially implement Gran Terminal Tasqueña in four phases beginning with a core around Tasqueña station and Taxco Plaza. The first stage will integrate the microbus terminals with the metro and light rail station, introduce new retail options inside the station and clear the way for redevelopment on the rest of the site. The second phase will establish a retail and office cluster around Taxco Plaza and Tasqueña Station that will serve as the core of Gran Terminal Tasqueña. Once established, the core is potentially self-sustaining without further development, and could act as a regional retail, entertainment and office destination. From

phase two, phases three and four can flexibly react to changing market conditions and develop housing, or additional retail and office space as appropriate.

Beyond physical implementation, Gran Terminal Tasqueña will require negotiation with multiple landowners to assemble the necessary parcels.

These landowners should ultimately benefit from the new terminal, however, and could be brought into the project as partners who are able to retain their existing businesses and infrastructure.

After Gran Terminal Tasqueña is implemented, it will also be important to maintain its new open spaces and pathways, so that Tasqueña’s current problems do not reappear. A business improvement district (BID) will allow the various stakeholders to cooperate in post-project management with a stable revenue source for maintenance, programming and marketing in Gran Terminal Tasqueña.

Gran Terminal Tasqueña 47

New Tasque単a Station South Microbus Terminal Moved

Taxco Plaza

Arterial Avenues

Soriana Moved

Phase One

Phase Two

New Tasque単a station built, integrating microbus terminals into metro and light rail station. South microbus terminal moved to western portion of station. Soriana relocated into new station.

Urban grid extended into Tasque単a. Taxco Plaza built with surrounding retail, office and structured parking. Gran Forum relocated to plaza area. Av. Tasque単a and Canal de Miramontes redesigned.

Office Block Multi-family Housing Multi-Family Housing

Phase Three

Phase Four

Grid extension continues. Additional office and structured parking constructed. First round of Multi-family housing completed.

Final grid extension and multifamily housing completed.

Project Implementation 48

Land Assembly Urban Travel Design could potentially implement Gran Terminal Tasqueña in four phases, but the land assembly process will require significant negotiation and coordination with current landowners and stakeholders.

For that reason, Gran Terminal Tasqueña is designed to offer benefits to the exisitng landowners to encourage their cooperation Transit Authorities Their are four primary transit authorities controlling land at Tasqueña: Sistema de Transporte Colectivo (STC) controls the metro station. Servicio de Transportes Eléctricos (STE) controls the light rail platforms. Secretaria de Transportes y Vialidad (STV) controls the microbus terminals, and Central Camionera del Sur controls the regional bus station.

Gran Terminal Tasqueña will most greatly affect STC, STE and STV and each benefit from a new station with increased retail space that can help subsidize better transportation management and security. Central Camionera del Sur will continue to operate from their current station, which is presently under renovation, but the project requires purchasing their western parking lot. We propose compensating them for this lot by allowing access to the new underground parking structure that will be located on the same site.

Current Business Owners While the physical form of businesses currently on the site will change, Gran Terminal Tasqueña can retain them as tenants. For example, the businesses owned by Group Gigante could be relocated into Tasqueña Station or along Taxco Plaza. Group Gigante could also become a direct investor in the project as a partial owner of the retail and office buildings as well as multifamily-housing.

Gran Terminal Tasqueña will not directly affect Eli Lilly’s pharmaceutical facility, but does require purchasing one of their parking lots.

Again, they could be compensated for the lost parking by providing them with access to our underground parking structures.

Transit Operators • STC • STE • STV • Central Camionera

Benefit Improved Station; Retail revenue funds better station management infrastructure; Access to structured parking

Business Owners • Group Gigante • Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals

Benefit Businesses retained but in new form; project investors; Access to structured parking

Cultural Organizations • Gran Forum

Benefit New office and practice facility; outdoor concert space on Taxco Plaza

Cultural Organizations Gran Terminal Tasqueña will require moving the Gran Forum, and we propose compensating them with a new facility built into our office and retail space along Taxco Plaza. They could also be heavily incorporated into the plaza’s programming through frequent outdoor concerts.

Gran Forum

Group Gigante

Central Camionera

STV

STC

Gran Terminal Tasqueña 49

Sources Urban Travel Design (UTD). “Megacentralities Presentation” January 2011. Powerpoint available at www.megacentralities.com Rodríguez Sanchez, Luis M. and Eréndira J. Cohen Fernández. Gu´â de Árboles y Arbustos de la Zona Metropolitana de la Diudad de México. Flexíon, 2003.

SBB. Joint Project between Canton of Zurich and SBB. Available at http://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/infradienstleistungen/infra-bau/infra-grossprojekte/infra-durchmesserlinie_zuerich.htm.

SBB. ShopVille-RailCity Zürich. Available at http://www.railcity.ch/en/index_zuerich.htm.

Create a Destination 50

Gran Terminal Tasque単a 51