{"id":2516,"date":"2025-08-19T10:27:25","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T16:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/?p=2516"},"modified":"2025-08-19T10:31:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T16:31:07","slug":"freeways-values-and-the-city-the-eternal-return-of-elevated-highways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/freeways-values-and-the-city-the-eternal-return-of-elevated-highways\/","title":{"rendered":"Freeways, values, and the city: the eternal return of elevated highways"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Juan S. Larrosa-Fuentes<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In my work as a researcher, one of the issues that interests me the most is understanding how our social practices are structured. A central key to this is the analysis of values. Values are the ideas that guide our decisions about what is beautiful or ugly, good or bad, right or wrong. These values direct our actions and, through repetition, become practices. And when a set of practices is sustained over time, they become social systems.<\/p>\n<p>From this perspective, an effective way to transform our social reality is to modify the values that sustain it. This means asking ourselves not only what we do, but why we do it.<\/p>\n<p>In recent days, we have once again seen the debate over roadways in our city. For the umpteenth time, there is an attempt to \u201cfix\u201d the road to the airport, the same one that was intervened when leaders like Barack Obama visited, when the Pan American Games were held, or during international summits. The proposal to build a second level has also resurfaced, like the \u201cV\u00eda Express\u201d that about fifteen years ago Emilio Gonz\u00e1lez promoted\u2014an elevated private highway that was to run along Avenida Inglaterra.<\/p>\n<p>Years later, we are once again facing the same discussions. Haven\u2019t we learned anything? Why do we keep repeating failed proposals and projects?<\/p>\n<p>From my point of view, the key lies in the values that guide our vision of the city. I will focus on two.<\/p>\n<p>The first is the value of the public versus the private. Road infrastructure decisions, time and again, privilege the private car and those who have the most. If we truly wanted to benefit the majority, we should be investing in quality public transportation. But no: the most privileged sector continues to be protected, instead of building a progressive and equitable policy.<\/p>\n<p>The second value has to do with the model of mobility we choose. We persist in thinking of the city through the lens of private, individual transportation, when what is required is a commitment to collective, safe, and accessible systems. The problem is not only the roadway infrastructure, but the sheer number of cars on the streets. And every project that \u201cimproves\u201d avenues encourages more cars to come out.<\/p>\n<p>If we do not change these values, in 10 or 20 years, we will be in the same place. But if we can shift our priorities\u2014in other words, our values\u2014we could build a different city, one that is fairer and more sustainable.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>This text was originally read on the NTR Radio newscast broadcast on August 18, 2025, and hosted by journalist Sergio Ren\u00e9 de Dios Corona.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"excerpt\">By Juan S. Larrosa-Fuentes In my work as a researcher, one of the issues that interests me the most is understanding how our social practices are structured. A central key to this is the analysis of values. Values are the ideas that guide our decisions about what is beautiful or ugly, good or bad, right or wrong. These values direct&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/freeways-values-and-the-city-the-eternal-return-of-elevated-highways\/\">Read more &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[156],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guadalajaras-communication-system","xfolkentry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2883,"url":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/the-concept-of-power-after-tapalpa\/","url_meta":{"origin":2516,"position":0},"title":"The Concept of Power After Tapalpa","author":"Juan S. Larrosa-Fuentes","date":"23 February, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"By Juan Larrosa Today I had planned to speak about measles. However, it is impossible not to turn our attention to what has occurred in the country over the last 48 hours following the arrest of \"El Mencho,\" leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, one of the most powerful\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Propaganda&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Propaganda","link":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/category\/propaganda-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2962,"url":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/what-does-it-feel-like-to-live-in-a-world-cup-host-city\/","url_meta":{"origin":2516,"position":1},"title":"What Does It Feel Like to Live in a World Cup Host City?","author":"Juan S. Larrosa-Fuentes","date":"20 April, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"By Juan S. Larrosa-Fuentes (April 20, 2026) A few days ago, I was in a meeting with some foreign attendees and, before we began\u2014during that moment when everyone greets each other and chats about everyday matters\u2014one of them asked me what it felt like to live in a World Cup\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Desaparecidos&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Desaparecidos","link":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/category\/desaparecidos-en\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2469,"url":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/narcocorridos-as-a-form-of-propaganda\/","url_meta":{"origin":2516,"position":2},"title":"Narcocorridos as a Form of Propaganda","author":"Juan S. Larrosa-Fuentes","date":"8 July, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"By Juan Larrosa, July 7, 2025 The debate around narcocorridos has been present in the media, opinion columns, and policymaking forums. This raises many questions. Two seem especially relevant to me: What exactly are narcocorridos? And should the State regulate or even ban them? Here, I propose approaching the issue\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Political Communication&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Political Communication","link":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/category\/political-communication\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":976,"url":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/una-agenda-para-los-observatorios-de-medios-en-mexico\/","url_meta":{"origin":2516,"position":3},"title":"A Research-Agenda for Media Observatories in Mexico","author":"Juan S. Larrosa-Fuentes","date":"30 April, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This article was published in Revista Z\u00f3calo (May, 2017). If you want to read the article, click here. \u00a0 In historical terms, media observatories were born in the late 1990s in Brazil and at the beginning of the following decade, in 2002, at the World Social Forum. However, the ideas\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Media Observatories&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Media Observatories","link":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/category\/media-observatories\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Revista-Z%C3%B3calo-Mayo-2016.png?fit=965%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Revista-Z%C3%B3calo-Mayo-2016.png?fit=965%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Revista-Z%C3%B3calo-Mayo-2016.png?fit=965%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Revista-Z%C3%B3calo-Mayo-2016.png?fit=965%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":810,"url":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/global-fusion-2016-narcos\/","url_meta":{"origin":2516,"position":4},"title":"Global Fusion 2016 \/ Narcos","author":"Juan S. Larrosa-Fuentes","date":"22 October, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"During the second week of October, Temple University organized the conference Global Fusion 2016. Global Fusion conference was held. This conference brought together an impressive group of academics, editors, and students located in the large field of communication, especially in cultural studies. Here you can download the event program. In\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Film&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Film","link":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/category\/film\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Larrosa.Netflix-Narcos-1.jpg?fit=1067%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Larrosa.Netflix-Narcos-1.jpg?fit=1067%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Larrosa.Netflix-Narcos-1.jpg?fit=1067%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Larrosa.Netflix-Narcos-1.jpg?fit=1067%2C600&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Larrosa.Netflix-Narcos-1.jpg?fit=1067%2C600&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":801,"url":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/global-fusion-2016-narcos\/","url_meta":{"origin":2516,"position":5},"title":"Global Fusion 2016 \/ Narcos","author":"Juan S. Larrosa-Fuentes","date":"22 October, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Durante la segunda semana de octubre de 2016 se llev\u00f3 a cabo la conferencia Global Fusion. Esta conferencia, organizada por Temple University, reuni\u00f3 a un interesante grupo de acad\u00e9micos, editores y estudiantes ubicados en el gran campo de la comunicaci\u00f3n, y especialmente en los estudios culturales. Aqu\u00ed se puede consultar\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Cine&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Cine","link":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/category\/cine\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Larrosa.Netflix-Narcos-1.jpg?fit=1067%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Larrosa.Netflix-Narcos-1.jpg?fit=1067%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Larrosa.Netflix-Narcos-1.jpg?fit=1067%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Larrosa.Netflix-Narcos-1.jpg?fit=1067%2C600&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Larrosa.Netflix-Narcos-1.jpg?fit=1067%2C600&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Hsnc-EA","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2516"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2517,"href":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2516\/revisions\/2517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.juan-larrosa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}