City Profile: Aguascalientes
The United Mexican States (Mexico) has committed its Nationally Determined Contributions pathway to reduce 50% of emissions by the year 2050. The city of Aguascalientes, the capital of the state with the same name, is located in the southern border of the state, in the central-northern region of Mexico. The city of Aguascalientes generates 7.31 million tCO2-eq, annually. In 2011, the energy sector accounted for 60.7% of the national GHG emissions with 498.51 tCO2-eq, of which the transport sector represented about 40% and electricity generation 30.8% Energy: In Aguascalientes city 99.8% of households are connected to the electricity grid, 15% have a solar water heater, 0.5% have a solar panel for electricity generation and 49% uses energy-saving light bulbs (INEGI, 2015). In the state of Aguascalientes there are five transmission substations that supply energy to all its municipalities. By sector, the energy consumption of Aguascalientes is distributed as follows: 50% transport, 32.08% industry, 15.4% residential, 3.26% agricultural and 2.76% commercial. The state of Aguascalientes is an appropriate region for the installation of systems with high incidence of solar radiation, which can generate about 19 MJ/m2 in the year. Therefore, the government intends to regulate it and ensure its sustainable use through the State Program of Renewable Energies. Transport: The road infrastructure network of the state is composed of 347 km of federal highways, 1,020 km of state roads and 608 km of rural roads. The municipality does not have a mass transit system such as metro, rapid transit buses or passenger trains. Furthermore, it does not have a road for freight transport either. Regarding railway infrastructure, there are 133 km of tracks, However, this infrastructure does not transport passengers. The transport sector accounts for 35% of the 7.31 million tCO2-eq that the municipality of Aguascalientes produces each year. In order to reduce the GHG and SLCPs emissions, the government of the state planned an Integrated Metropolitan Transport System (SIT by its Spanish acronym), to be financed by BANOBRAS, a Mexican Development Bank. Moreover, the Municipal Development Plan (PDMA, 2017) established the commitment to expand the infrastructure for non-motorized transport currently composed of bicycle routes; and strengthen and generate schemes for promotion, education and dissemination of a new culture that fosters non-motorized mobility through educational projects that raise awareness about the use of bicycles. Waste: The municipalities of Aguascalientes have excelled at national level for its system of sweeping, collection and final disposal of urban solid waste. However, further programs are required for the reduction, reuse and recycling of waste (PDMA, 2017). Despite the significant amount of waste with recyclable character, only 0.4% of the total generated waste is recycled in the municipality. Recycling is being promoted through the Friendly Action Program through which the waste producers take the materials to collection centers and receive money in exchange, which they can choose to claim or donate to organizations linked to the program. The final disposal of the city’s waste is carried out at the San Nicolás landfill, which generates 2.2 kWh electric power, however, according to its Municipal Development Plan (2017), the state has no planning or coordinated work to reuse this natural renewable and clean resource. |
The factsheets provide a basic introduction to specific measures in the areas of energy, mobility and waste management, which aims to provide a basket of possible solutions to partner cities.
Factsheet: Bike sharing and public bicycle systems Bicycle-sharing systems fill in the gap between public transport and destination points, and satisfy citizens’ demand for short trips, reducing the time of commutes. In general, bicycle-sharing systems increase the choices of and accessibility to attractions by giving locals a wider range of destinations beyond their walking range at a low cost. By providing an alternative to the use of private vehicles, this transport mode also helps improve air quality and reduce transport congestion and noise. In addition, cycling brings both physical and mental bene ts for its users, and can help improve the urban image of a city and its culture. Case Study: Mexico city’s Bicycle-sharing system (Mexico) |
E-learning programme builds on the toolbox and factsheets and aims to provide a better understanding of possible actions, highlighting the experiences from the implementation of measures in other cities building on the wealth of knowledge of international experts.
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Action Tracker
GIVES AN OVERVIEW OF THE PROJECT´S PROGRESS The Urban Pathways Action Tracker provides an overview of the project’s activities in the cities and reflects on the various action areas. The main objective of this is to share learnings with other cities and identify opportunities for synergies with other projects and initiatives.
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capacity building
UP Conference Eco-Districts WEbinar The Urban Pathways Conference took place from 16 to 20 October in Berlin, Germany, with the objective to discuss concrete low-carbon energy, mobility and waste-management solutions to deliver on the New Urban Agenda. This event showcased activities of cities working together on sustainable urban development and helped taking this further into a joint program of action.
Webinar on Eco Districts: Access, Mobility and Public Space
120 urban practitioners, neighbourhood leaders and city officials from the city of Quito participated in our first Webinar about EcoDistricts in the context of the EcoDistricts Design Contest launched by the Metropolitan Institute of Urban Planning (IMPU by its Spanish acronym) (@IMPUQuito). The webinar focused on the importance of accessibility, mobility and public space in the design of EcoDistricts, as well as the stakeholder engagement needed for its implementation. Thanks to Marcela Guerrero, Diego Hurtado, Galo Cárdenas and María Rosa Muñoz for sharing their expertise with us. Their presentations are available here. |
change maker programme
INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS PARTNERSHIPS The Urban Change Maker Programme actively trains and involves motivated junior and senior experts to contribute our joint effort of delivering on the New Urban Agenda with concepts for low-carbon urban energy, mobility and waste management systems.
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City-to-city partnerships
Quito - Aguascalientes The partner cities will be supported by exchanging ideas with their peers in other cities who have developed successful urban mobility, energy and resource management solutions. This will focus on the story behind the success on governance, finance and regulatory issues.
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regional replication
Implementation is the main focus of the project. As result of the structured process of the project we will identify feasible urban energy, mobility and resources management options in our partner cities. We work closely with development bank partners and financing sources, such as the Green Climate Fund towards assessments of the feasibility of concrete implementation projects. |
policy environment assessment on mexico
Policy environment assessment Mexico
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policy development
Policy measures at the local and national level can be critical to the transformation of urban energy, mobility and resource sectors, for example they regulate systems, provide technological standards, generate funding, impose taxes and set policy objectives. As part of the cooperation with the partner cities, Urban Pathways provides on-demand policy advice. |
project development
One of the core objectives is the development and implementation of projects that help decarbonising urban energy, mobility and resource sectors. The projects concepts that are considered to be viable will be later developed into bankable projects for which funding will be sought. |
funding solutions
Green climate fund CAF An overview of funding solutions is provided in the toolbox. This section includes updates on the specific funding options that are considered for the partner city.
Green Climate Fund
The GCF is a global fund that support the efforts of developing countries to respond to the challenge of climate change, limiting or reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to climate change. GCF has a multi layered approach to mobilize climate finance, working directly with the public and private sectors. It is important to note that developing countries are in the driving seat of GCF’s targeting and disbursement of climate finance. National Designated Authorities (NDAs) for each developing country act as the country’s interface with the Fund, and are involved closely in all of GCF’s funding processes. CAF is a development bank created in 1970, owned by 19 countries - 17 of Latin America and the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal- as well as 13 private banks in the region. It promotes a sustainable development model through credit operations, non-reimbursable resources, and support in the technical and financial structuring of projects in the public and private sectors of the shareholder countries of Latin America.
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implementation facility
SYNERGIES & PARTNERSHIPS WITH OTHER PROJECTS & INITIATIVES The Implementation Facility coordinates the delivery of the project and creates synergies with other initiatives working in the Urban Pathways areas and regions. The facility focuses on knowledge exchange, co-creation and collaboration with partner projects working in the Urban Pathways cities.
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bankable projects
Urban Pathways develops scalable pilot projects in cooperation with the partner cities at a neighbourhood level with an aim to provide a proof of concept of urban energy, mobility and waste management solutions. Based on the pilot project demonstrators, larger-scale projects will be developed to utilise the CO2mitigation potential of an integrated urban energy, mobility and resource management approach and seize the opportunities for contributions the Sustainable Development Goals. This will be done in close cooperation with finance partners and will be geared towards the Green Climate Fund, the Global Environment Facility and similar sources of funding and financing. |