México has subsidized and built millions of low-income homes and thousands of subdivisions in the period of 2000–2012. These occupied and expanded urban peripheries far away from work, learn, service, commerce, and recreational amenity centers. These communities had no chance to offer a high quality of life. They were rapidly abandoned and deteriorated physically and socially. Amid the still ongoing crime and violence, inhabitants experienced a loss of trust in their neighbors, a deep sense of insecurity, and consequently reduced public life and activity to a minimum. This article describes and reflects on a project implemented in two neighborhoods of two northern México cities, with the objective of mitigating crime and violence, while recovering public spaces in these communities. The project implemented a hybridized methodology, including Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), attention to Youth at Risk, and the prevention of Gender Based Violence. All these were integrated transversally with a community participation approach incorporated throughout the project actions. This article reflects on the successes and failures of this pilot project, as demonstrated by differentiated results between a neighborhood located in Chihuahua City and another in the municipality of Guadalupe, within Monterrey’s Metro Area. The lessons learned, include the relevance of local political timing and interests, the importance of accurate and manageable geographic definitions for the areas of implementation, the role of NGOs, the importance of local educational institutions—in particular schools of architecture and the need for community oriented strategic consultants, to appropriately advise local governments in the implementation of projects of this nature. The article demonstrates the effort to make it accessible, and to anticipate the issues and opportunities as many Mexican, and other Latin American countries and cities engage in the spatial and social recovery of public spaces, neighborhoods, communities, and cities after years of high crime and violence.

Green infrastructure (GI) has been proposed as a decentralized solution to complex urban water management issues. However, public policy remains a critical challenge for the wide adoption of GI, which is exacerbated in transboundary settings. We draw from public policy theory to analyze GI policies at the US–Mexico border. We examine the case of Ambos Nogales—two sister cities grappling with complex water management challenges. We examined existing policies and evaluated their impact on the implementation of GI at multiple levels (local, state, national, and binational). We also conducted interviews and a focus group with stakeholders. Our analysis unveils a set of barriers to the adoption of GI and a suite of opportunities for the enactment of GI policies. We outline five pathways for greening border cities, including (i) creating market-based GI incentives, (ii) adopting the net-zero urban water approach, (iii) engaging with existing institutions for greening efforts, (iv) planning for a GI network at the watershed scale, and (v) supporting local champions. By addressing shortcomings of policy and regulatory frameworks hindering local capacity, border cities will be more likely to adopt and widely implement GI solutions for more sustainable urban water management.

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