Somos México demands transparency in citizen participation for Mexico City's development plan

The Somos México party in Mexico City is demanding that the local Congress make public and verifiable the evidence of citizen participation in the drafting of the General Development Plan (PGD). The party insists that before approving the plan, which will shape the capital's future for the next two decades, the legislature must demonstrate how public input was genuinely incorporated.

Somos México argues that simply holding workshops, forums, and discussions does not prove that citizen opinions were effectively processed and included in the plan, as required by law. They point to Article 15 of the Mexico City Constitution, which mandates that planning be democratic, open, participatory, transparent, and involve public deliberation. Furthermore, Article 65 of the Law on the Development Planning System requires that all generated documents and activities from the consultation process be included in a public annex, emphasizing the binding nature of citizen proposals.

"The question is no longer how many forums were held. The question is what citizens said, what proposals were incorporated, which were discarded, why those decisions were made, and where any citizen can verify it. A consultation must produce verifiable results," stated Juan Manuel Orozco Carmona, president of Somos México in Mexico City. He added that the figures presented by authorities, 486 participatory workshops, 301 forums, and 12,822 proposals received online, make accountability even more crucial.

Somos México highlighted that during the consultation, authorities used different categories and universes to report participation, ranging from proposals and reflections to surveys and opinion instruments. Therefore, they deem it essential to publish a methodological explanation clarifying what was counted, through which mechanisms, and the concrete results of each. Neighboring organizations also reportedly raised similar concerns.

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The question is no longer how many forums were held. The question is what citizens said, what proposals were incorporated, which were discarded, why those decisions were made, and where any citizen can verify it. A consultation must produce verifiable results.