Mexico’s Leading Tech Institution Develops 20 Year Campus Plan to Build a Community of Innovators

Instituto Tecnológico y De Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Tlalpan Ciudad de México (CDMX) is one of the leading research and academic institutions in Mexico, well regarded for the broad range and the quality of its programs as well as its leadership in the development of entrepreneurship.

The institute faced the challenge of growing competitive interdisciplinary academic programs that match current technological development and align with the campus’s goals of becoming a pipeline of talent for industries in Mexico City.

Located in the world’s 7th largest city, the Ciudad de México campus (CCM) in Tlalpan is situated in the Southern Region of Mexico City, but the campus had many urban planning problems and an unclear sense of how to align its mission of catalyzing knowledge-based innovation within the territory nearby. Startups do not currently aggregate around the Ciudad de México campus and there are few industry centers nearby other than a healthcare hub. Even though Mexico City accounts for one-quarter of Mexico’s total GDP, there is still a lack of an economic hub near Tlalpan.

Mexico City’s appeal to companies is very strong, therefore the Ciudad de México campus had the potential to train, retain, attract, and develop talent for new and existing industries. The challenge was how to determine the best way to boost the competitiveness in this zone as well as attract, retain, and effectively connect top students and researchers within the University's budget.

The Ciudad de México campus worked with Aretian in creating an urban design plan to better align academic programs with the goal of supplying a talent pipeline to the city’s growing industries.

The plan was informed by data-driven recommendations gathered from the local and regional economies. The data analyzed the area’s industries and talent network as well as the institute’s design configuration and innovation performance, allowing the team to formulate a 15-year plan centered on innovation and growth.

Part of the growth strategy targeted bringing more research and innovation talent to the institute. An economic competitiveness analysis revealed that the economically complex industries around the Ciudad de México campus make it likely to form connections with local industry and attract top researchers and students. After benchmarking CDMX against other innovation districts, Aretian found that increasing research employment figures would result in more competitive academic programs. With more research talent and entrepreneurs, the institute can actively contribute to Mexico City’s growth as an intermediary with local industry.

To help attract talent and foster collaboration between its new research employees and local industries, Aretian recommended that the Ciudad de México campus redesign its layout based on the Fractal City Plan, which facilitates placemaking, connection, collaboration, and identity. To do this, Aretian proposed building a network of 5 knowledge transfer centers to directly connect applied research fields with startups and innovative companies, each strategically located within the fractal city plan.

The Startup Incubator, centrally located, would house meeting spaces, and offer resources for starting a business. The Innovation Hub would have brainstorming centers to help students innovate and promote ideas. The Design Marker Space would be an engineering work facility conducive to designing prototypes and manifesting new ideas. The Biotech Facilities are two buildings, one a Biotechnology Lab, and one a Clinical Research Lab, that would provide space for academic programs, health-related research, and practice. The GovTech lab would provide classrooms and meeting spaces for students to address challenges around civics and governance.

Between the new campus infrastructure and the use of Mexico City’s comparative industry advantage to attract new talent, the Ciudad de México campus has a clear plan to institute changes that will make its academic programs more competitive, as well as achieve its goal of establishing a pipeline to foster talent for the industries of Mexico City.

Jose Antonio Torres, Director of Urban Planning, Sustainability and Infrastructure commented that “Aretian's support has provided us with analysis, evidence and international references that allow us to focus our efforts to transform DistritoTec into an innovation district that drives the sustainable development of our city, state and country.”