Step 01 / From Container to Rooftop

Installation of self-sustaining EV containers creates a rooftop nucleus of green renewal. Benefits at this scale include improving the dignity of daily living spaces and individual quality of life.

Step 02 / From Rooftop to Neighborhood

Rooftop green spaces multiply to form Efecto Verde zones on a neighborhood scale. Benefits include transformation of urban ‘grey zones’ into livable green spaces and improvement of local air quality.

Step 03 / From Neighborhood to Urban Landscape

Neighborhood green renewal proceeds along major urban corridors and ultimately expands to create a green city, at which scale the greatest benefits of Efecto Verde are achieved. These include significant environmental renewals plus a healthy symbiosis between urban waste recycling and local economic vitality.

The Result /

Covering over 40% of the urban core of Mexico City with low-maintenance vegetation by 2030—reactivating agricultural production and stimulating the economy of the ancient Xochimilco river delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987. Once completed, over 9 Million cubic meters of rain water will once again go back to nourishing plants.

Project ZMVM / The Efecto Verde project was conceived to significantly transform the urban and social environment of the ZMVM at minimal or no cost to the public. While it was purposely designed to be simple to implement, it is potentially vast in its impact and is greater in scale than any existing green renewal initiative in the world.

The goal of Efecto Verde is to restore the environmental health of the ZMVM by creating a low-cost, self-sustaining system of green roofing over 40 percent of its surface area by the year 2030. Here’s how:

The Three Steps to Green Renewal

All big change starts with one basic element and unfolds as a process. The Efecto Verde project for the ZMVM does the same.

Our basic element of change is a simple plant container that forms the nucleus of individual rooftop green spaces. As more rooftops adopt this self-sustaining container, they in turn create broader neighborhood green zones. These ultimately connect to form a larger fabric of green renewal across the urban landscape.

Mexico Then and Now

Up until the fifteenth century, Mexico City enjoyed a lush and diverse topography sustained by a thriving system of rivers and lakes.

Colonization introduced new strains on the landscape and natural resources—particularly the lake system which was quickly drained by sudden population growth.

Today, urbanization and a dramatic population explosion has left almost the entire surface of the valley covered in a massive expanse of concrete and asphalt.