How does a city define order? In Mexico, a debate about uniformity vs. culture.
Almost overnight, the color started to disappear.
Bright red, hand-painted apples and watermelons on the juice stand; the torta, drawn to show each vibrant ingredient so realistically that the picture itself could make mouths water; and the grinning pink pig basking in a pot – one by one these paintings were cloaked in white.
In the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City, a new initiative from local officials aims to create more order. Food and drink vendors are required to whitewash their stalls and allow the city to label them with the official crest and catchphrase “Cuauhtémoc is your home.” They also face fines for messy workspaces, and are required to keep boxes of ingredients or trash cans inside their small structures.
The government has declined to engage directly with a growing group of unhappy businesses and neighbors on
