Exploring the edges of cities and urban culture

Mexico City

I walked around the complete edge of the Greater Mexico City Area in 2009 and the edge of the municipalities in the state of Mexico in 2019. I have also been going back to keep tabs on phenomena which could generally be considered “peripheral.” The edge of this metropolitan area of 25 million people is for many reasons the most dynamic part of the city, despite its marginal nature. I learnt that it is on the edge of the city that you can see most clearly the future of urban culture rather than historical centers or bohemian neighborhoods which generally attract the limelight. In 2015 I wrote the narrative of this walk trying to make the link to more abstract urban issues. Mexico City is also one of the first megacities in developing countries and can perhaps give hints how they will develop as they mature. 

San Diego – Tijuana

There are very few places where the global north and south meet in one urban agglomeration – the Tijuana-San Diego metropolitan area is probably the largest with 3.2 million people living north and 2.3 million south of the border. Tijuana is one of the most violent cities in Mexico and the world while San Diego has among the lowest crime rates of major cities in the United States. By walking around the edges of both cities in 2020 I hoped to get a clearer understanding of the relation between global north and global south in one of the few places where these relations are an urban phenomenon and not just an international one. Both cities took about 22 days, however I did have to interrupt the trip as I was briefly kidnapped in Tijuana. 

Kigali, Rwanda

I was invited by Costanza La Mantia of Bantu Studio to walk around the edge of Kigali, the capital of Rwanda and perhaps the fastest growing city in Africa with a population of 1.8 million  It is the only city I have walked around where I didn’t speak the language – however the clear differences in the contrast in how open land and urban areas are designed versus other cultures I have encountered, open my thinking to how cultural differences are expressed on the edge of cities, particularly when it comes to the open land on the edge of the city. It took about a month to review the interaction of wetland and city which make the edge of Kigali incredibly long and hard to follow.

I am moved by the exploring adventure

Explorer of urban outskirts
I tirelessly travel through the edges of large cities, capturing the essence of these less visible and marginalized spaces.

Visual and written storyteller
Combining documentary photography with essays and chronicles that reveal human, social, and cultural stories, offering a unique and deep perspective on urban life.

Reflection on transformation and diversity
Through my approach, I invite reflection on the constant transformation, diversity, and complexity of everyday life in these marginalized urban areas.