Analysis of the pros and cons of citizen participation in the restaurationof Mexico City's Canal Nacional (in Spanish).

The 8.7 kilometer-long National Canal (Canal Nacional), is the only untubed water

body left in the central area of Mexico City. In 2019, the city’s Government allocated

an initial amount of 2.6 million US dollars to rehabilitate the Canal Nacional. As the

project progressed, an unexpected ded unexpected reaction took place: the emergence

of citizen groups opposed to the rehabilitation works of the Canal Nacional. This text

highlights the underlying nuances of social participation, as identified in this particular

experience, where participation has been a way for civil society to influence government

actions and politics oriented at recovering a socio-environmental space but also to

hinder the rehabilitation project, thus affecting the right to a healthy environment of the

population living in that space.