This Park Will Cross Borders, to Connect Two Cities with a Shared Culture

A binational border park connecting Mexico and the United States will soon be built, with the celebration of both countries’ joint culture and the revitalization of the economy at the heart of the project.

“We have envisioned a shared Binational pedestrian bridge that physically connects both sides of the river as an extension of the park,” say Rick Archer and Barbara Warren of Overland Partners, the firm leading the project. “Citizens of both nations would have a shared space for the community before checking through customs”.

Overland Partners works with Able City, a local architect studio in Laredo to materialize the park expanding over 405 hectares along both sides of the Rio Grande — known as Rio Bravo in Mexico. The new infrastructure’s design includes some 10 km of land, connecting the cities of Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo in Tamaulipas, Mexico. The park will be divided into three sections: an ecological restoration area, an urban core framed by bridges and an amphitheater, and a recreation area terminating at the Nuevo Laredo Zoo. “The reason this park is happening is that “Los Dos Laredos”, the two Laredos have always seen themselves as one single community with a unique shared culture.”