SIEMENS

You grew up in a small village near the sea. Now you call Mexico City home. How do you compare the two, what is it like living in this megacity?

Delgado: It's as different as chalk and cheese. As a child, I was surrounded by nature all day. Now I live in a city of 20 million people. Collectively, we use 35 cubic meters of water every second and we produce 13,000 tons of waste every day, putting great pressure on municipal service to meet associated demands. In addition, there is added pressure on public services due to the unplanned rapid growth of the city and the complexity of the intergovernmental coordination of the three separate states that comprise the greater metropolitan area.

What are the three most important challenges facing Mexico City in coming years?

Delgado: I would say mobility, water supply, and waste disposal. The transportation situation is the most talked about topic in daily conversations. How long it has taken to get somewhere, which route was chosen, how bad the traffic jams were. It's more important as a topic than the weather. In the past 15 years, very little was invested in public transport, while the number of cars significantly increased. From 1990 to 2007, the average speed of road traffic fell from 17 km/h to 11 km/h. We traveled at that speed in 1910 in horse-drawn carriages. Cyclists now average 18 km/h, which is significantly faster than automobiles. I ride a bicycle on average twice a week, usually to go to a restaurant during a lunch break.

Can bicycles offer a realistic solution for megacity transport problems?

Delgado: They are part of the solution. Of course, not many Mexicans would want to cycle 20 km or more to work every day in heavy urban traffic. But the last few kilometers from the metro station to the workplace, or a few blocks in the city center — those distances are more suitable. And conditions for cycling are actually not bad. This is a warm country, there are few hills in the city. We are building more and more cycling paths, and passing new legislation so that cyclists have more rights. We estimate that approximately 100,000 trips are made by bike every day.

Does Mexico City have enough water?

Delgado: No. It is difficult to provide enough clean water for all residents in one of the world's highest cities. We are at an altitude of more than 2,300 m. Some of the water is piped over distances of 200 km and we have to pump it up from 1,500 m below our own altitude. We are constantly expanding our catchment area for fresh water because the city's population has been rising annually by about four percent for the past 40 years. We are also tapping into our ground water to a greater extent than we should. Our water availability is falling and craters are appearing in the city because the earth is subsiding. Bursting pipes are becoming common. On the other hand, when rainfall is heavy, roads quickly flood in many neighborhoods. Climate change is making the situation even worse. So the need for investment is enormous.

What does Mexico City do with its waste?

Delgado: It goes into landfills. Our most important landfill site — the largest in the world — is nearly full. So we need to make radical changes in this respect. In the future, we need to more effectively sort and recycle our waste. We are working on ways to do that.

Not all Mexicans are enthusiastic about investing in a sustainable infrastructure. Some people would prioritize transfer payments for the poor and more schools.

Delgado: What value would you place on your future if you thought you didn't have one? A very low value. Unfortunately, there are many people in Mexico who have no access to education and little opportunity to improve their situation. They may be facing inadequate housing or not have money for food. For such people, the fight against climate change is less important than the struggle to get their next meal. So we are also promoting sustainability and environmental awareness — albeit indirectly — by fighting poverty and improving the education system. But failing to invest in sustainable technologies now would be a waste, because those technologies will help us to save money in the long term, first by simply reducing energy consumption.