Transformation of Mexico City

Pedestrians stand in front of the Arch of the Revolution monument in Mexico City, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. The once-neglected plaza with an Arc de Triumph-style monument to Mexico's 1910 revolution has been remade from a homeless encampment to a place where families visit and children run through spurts of water gushing out of the pavement. The copper dome of what started out as the congressional rotunda is newly polished and gleaming. Mexico City's government is trying to transform one of the world's largest cities by beautifying public spaces, parks and monuments. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini) (AP2012)

A child skips along a walkway in Alameda Central in Mexico City, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. Made iconic in the Diego Rivera mural Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda, some of the plaza's concrete sidewalks were replaced by marble, and makeshift vendor stands were kicked out. An ambitious, multimillion-dollar program to beautify public spaces by Mexico City's government is winning praise from urban planners and many residents. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)

In this photo taken on Sept. 27, 2012, a man walks under a popular bridge where the city made way for a taco joint and playground, near the hip neighborhood of Condesa, in Mexico City. The government is trying to transform one of the world's largest cities by beautifying public spaces, parks and monuments buried beneath a sea of honking cars, street hawkers, billboards and grime following decades of dizzying urban growth. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)

A dancer shows off his moves at the Alameda Central in Mexico City, Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2012. Made iconic in the Diego Rivera mural "Dream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda," city officials have cleared the swarms of vendors and remodeled the historic plaza. Mexico City's government is trying to transform one of the world's largest cities by beautifying public spaces, parks and monuments buried beneath a sea of honking cars, street hawkers, billboards and grime following decades of dizzying urban growth. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)

A couple occupy a bench in Alameda Central in Mexico City, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. Instead of a motley patchwork of folding tables and tarps, the newly opened park is a sea of greenery and calm in the midst of racing traffic. Mexico City's government is trying to transform one of the world's largest cities by beautifying public spaces, parks and monuments buried beneath a sea of honking cars, street hawkers, billboards and grime following decades of dizzying urban growth. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini)

Angy Saraui, 2, holds her toy pony as she walks in front a fountain at Alameda Central in Mexico City, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. Made iconic in the Diego Rivera mural ìDream of a Sunday Afternoon in the Alameda,î some of the park's concrete sidewalks were replaced by marble, and makeshift vendor stands were kicked out. Mexico City's government is trying to transform one of the world's largest cities by beautifying public spaces, parks and monuments buried beneath a sea of honking cars, street hawkers, billboards and grime following decades of dizzying urban growth. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini) (AP2012)

In this photo taken on Dec. 13, 2012, young men play catch with flying rings at the Glorieta de Insurgentes roundabout and metro station in Mexico City. When the plaza was built in 1969, the city's top priority was moving an onslaught of cars and people from one point to another. The circular plaza is below ground to let pedestrians walk under busy thoroughfares to catch their trains or buses or to just hang out. Urban designers are seeking to transform the roundabout into something with the glitzy excitement of Times Square or Londonís Piccadilly Circus. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini) (AP2012)

In this photo taken on Sept. 27, 2012, two police talk in the plaza of the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception of Tlaxcoaque in downtown Mexico City. The city has installed multi-colored fountains that light up at night and replaced a parking lot with a larger plaza for pedestrians at the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception of Tlaxcoaque. An ambitious, multimillion-dollar program by Mexico's City's government to beautify public spaces is winning praise from urban planners and many residents. (AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo)