Risk communication is crucial in a pandemic. In Mexico, a new superhero has been invented to encourage the whole population to respect the rules of social distancing. The cartoon character SuSana Distancia is a good example of successful risk communication.

Recently, I visited Guatemala City — a capital that is often disregarded in comparison to other gems like Antigua Guatemala or Lake Atitlán. While these are truly beautiful, I think it is also worthwhile to consider to case of the capital city. Since I was not able to contact project managers of the place I will be talking about (4 Grados Norte), I will use various newspaper sources, online comments and personal impressions of myself, but also of locals I talked to in Guatemala City, as sources.

I stayed in an AirBnB in Guatemala City, close to its centre, that consisted of a whole building owned by AirBnb. This was a first hint at the gentrification slowly taking over Guatemala City — high prices might be another one. AirBnB is apparently getting active as a real estate investor. It proudly exhibits some pictures of how the building used to look before they bought it and turned it into a space for visitors.

In Mexico City, residents organised to convince the city government to build a public park instead of developing an area for office buildings. The Parque Imán can serve as an example for successfully greening neighbourhoods, and reclaiming public space in a participatory and transparent manner.

Mexico City might be known internationally for many things, such as criminality, air pollution and heavy traffic. Recently, it has been gaining a reputation for more positive aspects such as efforts undertaken to green the city and to improve air quality.

Having lived in this bustling metropolis for two months now, as an urban development student it struck me that the city has a special talent maybe unknown beyond its boundaries: the redevelopment and regeneration of public spaces.

How to revive an urban neighbourhood that has become nothing more than a place to work?

La Mariscal is one of Quito’s more affluent districts with a lot of international hotels, offices, and restaurants. However, as soon as business hours are over, the district is as good as dead and the public spaces are not safe any more. Once constructed as a garden city, some of the beautiful old villas are still there, while in between many new high rise buildings for government and private offices have been built. However, there is still a lot of beauty and potential in La Mariscal. In recent years, not least powered by Habitat III taking place a few walking minutes away, there have been some changes for the better. Thanks to Fabrica Ciudad, I took part in a tour of the district and learned about a few of the innovative projects going on to revive this city.