Contribution short abstract:

How do Mexican return migrants navigate Mexico City's overwhelming urban complexity? This paper examines three commons that function as social infrastructure and the extent to which they serve as spaces of orientation, interaction and mutual support in a city marked by socio-spatial fragmentation.

Contribution long abstract:

Mexico City, with its diverse economic possibilities, vibrant cultural scene and educational offerings, continues to attract migrants from across Mexico and abroad. Among these are Mexican return migrants who, after living abroad, move to the thriving capital of their home country. However, the very scale and versatility that make the city appealing also pose significant challenges. Everyday life is characterised by socio-spatial disparities, reflected in restricted access to urban commons, especially for those who live in the deprived peripheries. Furthermore, due to their formal membership in Mexican society, returnees' need for inclusion infrastructure is likely to be overlooked, often leading to disorientation and social isolation. Building on one-year ethnographic fieldwork, this paper explores three rare examples of social infrastructure that return migrants use to find their way around in Mexico City's fragmented landscape: a central neighbourhood, a community house and a community organisation. I focus on the latter as a place for social encounters providing not only practical support and information, but creating a community of shared experience, which is shaped and maintained collectively. I argue that relational urban commons serve as crucial mediating spaces in a city marked by extreme spatial inequality, stimulating interaction between returnees and non-migrants, while also critically examining their limitations and questioning the extent to which their role as social infrastructure might be more aspirational than actual. This paper contributes to understanding the complex role of social infrastructures in fostering vital points of intersection and, thereby, enacting practices of commoning within highly segregated urban contexts.