Beating the Heat: Border Cyclists Fight for Better Infrastructure
In Mexicali, where temperatures soar above 120 degrees, organized cyclists are working toward a more livable city, says Denahi Valdez, founder of El Laboratorio de Invención para la Ciudad
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Beating the Heat: Border Cyclists Fight for Better Infrastructure
In Mexicali, where temperatures soar above 120 degrees, organized cyclists are working toward a more livable city—one tree, bike lane, and group ride at a time. An interview with Denahi Valdez, founder and codirector of El Laboratorio de Invención para la Ciudad.
On July 8, 2024, Mexicali, Baja California, hit 126 degrees Fahrenheit (52.4 degrees Celsius)—its all-time record high. Only one city in North America, nearby San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, has ever registered a higher temperature.
The borderlands are hot—and getting hotter. The region’s cities also have a sprawling, car-centric layout. In the industrial cities on the Mexico side, like Mexicali, air quality is persistently poor. It’s not easy to be a cyclist, pedestrian, or user of public transportation.
Yet out of dedication or necessity, many persist. One of them is Mexicali’s Denahi Valdez, cofounder of the collective LABICI and the nonprofit organization Laboratorio de Invención para la Ciudad (Laboratory of Urban Invention). Valdez and her collaborators work to enhance the recognition of cyclists; improve cycling and pedestrian infrastructure; expand access to public transportation; upgrade street design to help make their city more livable; and decrease pollution and heat islands.
The Border Chronicle spoke with Valdez about how her work has evolved over the last 15 years and her vision for the future of cities.
How would you describe Mexicali?
Mexicali is a border city, so it resembles cities in California: suburban, expansive, with a lot of parking lots. It was definitely built with cars in mind. Almost all trips are made by car, even those over short distances, because of the infrastructure. There aren’t sidewalks or buses, or there are cars parked on the sidewalk. The leading cause of death for people between 19 and 27 is transit accidents.
How did you get involved with cycling and urbanism?
The story begins in 2010, with the birth of a collective called Mexicali Bici. Its goal was simply to promote the use of bikes as a mode of transportation. As architects and urbanists, we thought Mexicali should have more bike lanes—to make the city more livable and breathable.
At that time, a national movement was coming together, building on efforts in larger cities like Mexico City and Guadalajara, and so we became part of the National Network of Urban Cycling, or BiciRed. That allowed us to skip a lot of the learning curve, because the other groups had already learned what worked. We organized around modifications to local transit regulations and state laws that would make cities more inclusive for bikes and improve air quality.
We had many years of rides, movie screenings, and trips to museums—all to help bikes become part of the culture in Mexicali. We also developed a good relationship with governmental agencies and participated in a study to help them identify the routes that they should prioritize for bike lanes. A lot of people joined, making the collective self-sustaining.
What were the collective’s main goals?
First, we wanted bikes to be recognized as a mode of transportation. City leaders used to think they were for sports and recreation, and that attitude isn’t as common anymore. The culture has shifted. Then, we wanted to increase the number of cyclists and bike lanes. Also, Mexicali has a big problem with air quality. We don’t have a large population, but we have a high number of cars per capita and a lack of public transportation. Obviously, we were also very aware of the issue of cyclists being hit by cars.
How did you deal with the issue of heat?
We were surprised. When we asked people about what they saw as the biggest obstacles to using a bike as a mode of transportation, the most important factor wasn’t the heat but the risk of being hit by a car or being robbed. People have figured out hacks and mañas [tricks] to deal with it: clothing, time of the day, staying hydrated, staying aware of heat waves. Here, there’s intense heat for four months, a short spring and fall, and winter. So there are also people who use their bikes seasonally.
As for the collective, since we kept going out for rides, even in the summer, people kept showing up—everyone was sick of being stuck inside with the air-conditioning. You go for a bike ride with 20 or 30 other people who are as crazy as you, you go out for a beer afterward, and suddenly you’ve made a group of friends.
How did your work shift from promoting cycling to working on other aspects of infrastructure?
As the group became self-sustaining, it allowed the other founders and me to continue on other paths. I was invited to work with the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, an international organization that promotes sustainable transportation, which has an office in Mexico City.
I always planned to return to Mexicali. I knew that I was going there to learn, to see what a city with real bike lanes and real public transportation was like, because at home no one was talking about that, and no one was an expert in it.
When I came back, I decided to create a nonprofit organization, Laboratorio para la Invención de la Ciudad. One of the projects we worked on was a campaign to reforest nine blocks along Álvaro Obregón, the first major avenue in Baja California. Historically, it had been planted with tamarisk, which is ugly, gray, and invasive, and so those trees were torn out in the 1960s or ’70s.
We got in contact with the mayor and asked for permission to plant trees—this time native paloverdes. We did it all: sourced the trees, broke the sidewalk, and planted the trees. Now the trees have grown in, and in the spring the street is completely yellow [with flowers]. We never had a symbol of the change of the seasons like that.
What are you working on now?
We’re going to replicate that project on the campus of the Autonomous University of Baja California. We call it “Washanami”—a combination of washa [a Hispanicization of the English word watch, used instead of mira in the borderlands] and hanami, which means “to look at flowers” in Japanese. We’re working with professors who study heat islands, measuring the current temperature so that we can compare later.
Since the trees were planted on Álvaro Obregón, it’s become the place to go for a stroll, to rollerblade, and bike—and that popularity has generated local businesses like cafés and small restaurants. When people see the trees and their beauty, maybe they don’t know exactly what they are, but they know they like it and they want it to be replicated.
What type of political changes do you think are still necessary?
Since 2022, Mexico has had the General Law of Mobility and Road Safety. It’s a good law on paper, but in practice, a lot of authorities don’t know it well or don’t enforce it. That’s one of the things we’re working on.
We have a mobility department in Mexicali now—something we started campaigning for in 2010 that just became a reality—and the mayor is talking about it. But still, a lot of the funds go toward cars, and very little goes to bikes. I think citizens should have more of a say in budgeting—otherwise, the government gets to make all the decisions, and not all of them are beneficial.
We also haven’t figured out green infrastructure here, things like water harvesting. Being a cyclist led me to working on shade, and shade leads you to thinking about water.
So the work continues from our trench. It all started as an experiment, and it became my mission and my reason for being.
It's inspiring to read this interview. It reminds us of the great diversity and dynamism in Mexico and in the borderlands in particular. Thank you for putting this together!
Remarkable this is happening in Mexicali. Spent quite a bit of time there back in the 80s. Off topic...but there use to be a terrific Chinese Food place there in a very pretty garden setting. Great place to eat.