Mayaguez Urbanization: El Camino De La Vida

Done in collaboration with another undergraduate student, the ultimate aim of our project was to revitalize the Western coastal city of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico into a destination waterfront that is both livable and resilient for the future years to come. Due to the climatic issues that face coastal cities today, such as sea level rise and hurricanes becoming increasingly more apparent, our design capitalized on the opportunity to create a long term resilience plan using landscaped flood regions that also double as both an environmental control system method and also a newly proposed common space for the surrounding community. In addition to our resilient planning, our design successfully links the marina sector back to the prevalent downtown area through the addition of our proposed new light rail system which culminates at our newly proposed Destination Mayaguez. Our design also works to reconnect the previously deteriorated and disconnected southern residential communities through the proposal of a new elevated courtyard housing development that ensures a stronger sense of connection through continued view corridors to both bodies of water while also providing a long lasting community presence among the residents. Originally, the city of Mayaguez was a place characterized by a deteriorated urban infrastructure, however, is now a city that is innately planned to orchestrate the melodic ballet of city life for Puerto Rican people today and in the future.