Alfred Herrhausen Gesellschaft - Das internationale Forum der Deutschen Bank - Award ceremony

It is a community based project that runs a comprehensive set of cultural, health, environmental, educational and employment programs within a low-income neighbourhood at the border of the city. Located in Iztapalapa borough and founded by indigenous people from different ethnic backgrounds who migrated into the city. Miravalle runs a comprehensive project that includes collection and recycling of two tons of PET plastic per week (generating employment for young 30 people), and a vegetable garden where they produce part of the food they offer at a low-budget lunchroom that secures a balanced nutrition for 300 members of the community.

The decision made by the jury praised the way the "Miravalle Community Council" creates virtuous cycles of participation and involvement, as well as the way it recovers the notion of public space and thus prevents future urban and social problems.

In addition to the winner, two projects received a ‘special mention’ due to their promotion of social reconciliation and economic mobility, through projects that started as relatively small initiatives and then began to grow thanks to their own efforts. Mr. Tito Vidauri, Chief Country Officer of Deutsche Bank Mexico awarded to "Centro Cultural Consejo Agrarista (CODECO)" and to "Recuperando Espacios para la Vida" (Recovering Spaces for Life) US$ 5 000 as part of the special mention prize.

Since March 2010, when the Deutsche Bank Urban Age Award in Mexico City was launched, it received 193 submissions from all corners of the vast metropolitan area, with initiatives from inner-city neighbourhoods to peripheral areas.