The increasingly more global economy, the geopolitical changes of recent years, the trend toward greater sustainability and the worldwide competition between cities are factors that undoubtedly have to be considered in the formulation of development strategies.

As a result, public and private sector institutions, within their individual realms, have begun to recognize the need to work in ways that go beyond short-term considerations by adopting long-term guidelines that direct the overall activity of a city. In today´s world, cities of excellence are characterized by their capacity to innovate and to adapt to new demands articulating the participation of all urban actors in a city model that is modern, sustainable and with a shared vision of the future.

There are certainly few cities in the world that do not aspire to endow their citizens with a higher quality of life in a medium- and long-term socially-sustainable system, with a well-structured economy, where social unity exists and the environment is protected. Juarez Strategic Plan embraces these ideals drawing from history and the recent evolution of the city and its relationship with the rest of Mexico, with the United States and with the rest of the world. The objective is to define a city-wide project with which all citizens can identify and makes us feel proud of living in Juarez.

Toward this goal we promote that all community forces—citizens, public-sector officials and government employees, academicians and students, representatives of the media, companies, institutions and associations—actively participate in the development process of the Plan and, especially, in its implementation. The Plan´s success and exploiting its full potential will depend on the coordination between the public, private and social sectors acting under a shared vision of the future.

The basic conditions for the Plan’s success are:

• Taking advantage of preexisting processes which show high potential to engage in dynamics of the future of the city;
• Securing a consensus and firm commitment among social, economic and political forces;
• Promoting public policies that are consistent with the Plan´s overall premise.

A change of mentality in all social agents is a must, as well as an optimistic vision of the future, an open mind to alternative approaches, to communication and collaboration, to new, creative and different ideas. This will allow us to allocate scarce resources appropriately to those key projects and investments that will benefit the community as a whole.