Public consultation and citizen mapping on green spaces and their role in public health: Extreme heat in Mexico City

The document highlights the underreporting of heat-related health symptoms in Mexico City and argues for the integration of green spaces as critical health infrastructure. Through citizen mapping and surveys in Iztapalapa and Benito Juárez, the project identified territorial inequalities in green space access and a lack of intersectoral coordination between health and environmental sectors.

• Extreme heat is causing symptoms such as dehydration, fatigue, irritability, and dizziness in Mexico City's population, yet these are not adequately captured in official health statistics, and there are no official reports of deaths from heatstroke.
• Heat waves are most concentrated in the eastern part of Mexico City, including the municipalities of Iztapalapa and Benito Juárez, where the number of days with extreme temperatures has increased in recent years.
• There is a significant disparity in green infrastructure access between municipalities, with Iztapalapa having a much lower index of green spaces per inhabitant compared to Benito Juárez.
• While green spaces are viewed as essential for thermal buffering, their actual use is hindered by distance from residences, lack of maintenance, and insecurity.
• Current coordination between the environmental and health sectors is primarily reactive and lacks preventive integration based on territorial evidence.

APA

Mendoza, L. G. (n.d.). Public consultation and citizen mapping on green spaces and their role in public health: Extreme heat in Mexico City. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. http://iai.int/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/CEH_Brief_SG-4_en.pdf

Chicago

Mendoza, Leticia Gómez. Public consultation and citizen mapping on green spaces and their role in public health: Extreme heat in Mexico City. Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research, n.d. http://iai.int/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/CEH_Brief_SG-4_en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mendoza |first1=Leticia Gómez |title=Public consultation and citizen mapping on green spaces and their role in public health: Extreme heat in Mexico City |publisher=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |url=http://iai.int/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/CEH_Brief_SG-4_en.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mendozandpublic, author = {Mendoza, Leticia Gómez}, title = {{Public consultation and citizen mapping on green spaces and their role in public health: Extreme heat in Mexico City}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, url = {http://iai.int/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/CEH_Brief_SG-4_en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }