Mayor’s 30-Year Plan to Fix Playa del Carmen Growth

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — In her first Government Report, Municipal President Estefanía Mercado Asencio made a bold call for long-term planning to tame the city’s chaotic growth. Speaking before the public, she argued that the three-year terms used by most mayors are insufficient. “Generally, mayors plan their cities in three-year terms,” she said, “and that is a mistake. Playa del Carmen must be projected with a vision for the future, because only in this way can we avoid the disorderly growth that impacts security, mobility, basic services, and the quality of life of the citizenry.”

Mercado Asencio emphasized that Playa del Carmen’s Urban Development Program (PDU) has not been updated in 18 years, meaning the city has been operating without a roadmap aligned with today’s needs and future demands. “Imagine that the city’s roadmap is 18 years out of date. How can we project where we are going if there is no roadmap that sets the rules for the city we want in the future?” she asked. She urged architects, engineers, business groups, civil associations, and all of civil society to help guide the updating process.

Without this planning she warned, the city risks moving “like an airplane without a radar,” resulting in problems that already are evident: inequality, shrinking security, failing basic services, gridlocked traffic, and urban disorder. According to official sources, the revised PDU will wrap up its public consultation phase by the end of this year and be ready for approval in early 2026—setting the stage for a vision that spans 30 years.

“We are sowing the seed of a city that within 30 years will be humane, orderly, prosperous, and proud of itself,” she declared. Mercado Asencio also recognized the daily work of architect Hernán González de los Santos and his team for pushing forward from day one, working to make every decision with future generations in mind.

According to the City of Playa del Carmen, an institutional work session held in August 2025 marked key progress on the PDU update for the Centro de Población, driven by the Consejo Municipal de Ordenamiento Territorial y Desarrollo Urbano with a participative approach involving citizens, professionals, and other government bodies.

That session included promises to protect natural resources—especially underground rivers—make use of more than 11,000 hectares already designated as available for urban development (so expansion into new ecological areas is not considered necessary), and plans for the biggest urban park in Quintana Roo.

The public works pillar of Mercado’s administration is already noticeable: a recent report details P900 million pesos (approximately) invested in infrastructure during her first year. Works include paving, lighting, street rehab, park rehabilitation, repairs to public spaces and public works.

The municipal government has also launched “Acción de Mejoramiento Urbano,” which targets 12 quadrants of the city for immediate improvements such as removing old cables, repairing sidewalks and curbs, and upgrading damaged poles.

Citizens have raised concerns about neglected infrastructure: there are hundreds of complaints to the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) about unsafe poles, many of which remain unaddressed.

Why it matters

Playa del Carmen is one of the fastest-growing cities in the Mexican Caribbean, but rapid growth has stretched services, infrastructure, and governance. Updating the PDU isn’t just about drawing lines on maps—it’s about ensuring roads, parks, housing, and public utilities keep up; protecting fragile ecosystems like mangroves and underground waterways; and preserving a livable city as the population and tourist traffic expand.

Mercado Asencio’s administration clearly wants to break the cycle of short-term planning, pushing for a PDU that lasts beyond political cycles, rooted in citizen participation and environmental care. If successful, the new PDU could become a model for rapid-growth coastal towns, giving Playa del Carmen a future that’s not just bigger—but better.