Decentralized urban planning

I work at the corporate center of Mexico City – Santa Fé. The curious story behind the area is that it was a sanitary landfill less than 20 years ago. One real estate entrepreneur decided to develop corporate skyscrapers on the valueless land. He was very successful – today Santa Fé is a thriving neighborhood with corporate centers, universities, and residential and commercial centers.

Well, so far so good. Viva the private enterprise. Right?
The problem with real estate development is that they are heavily dependent on public infrastructure – roads, water, energy, security, and transport. The lack of coordination between public goods and private enterprise creates a chaotic situation. Private sector continues to expand into new areas, where land is not expensive and the public sector continues to expand beyond their capabilities.

Santa Fé has one access to the city center, that cannot handle the current flow. You can imagine the chaotic traffic of an unplanned road access to a new neighborhood. There is no metro or reliable alternative transport (unless you consider helicopter an alternative). As a result, I’m stuck in traffic every single day - chatting with Porfirio, the former toreador converted into my taxi driver.

What are the alternatives?

Mexico has managed to attract private investment into the city colonial center (the Zocalo). Should the government intervene to make central areas more attractive to private investments? What would be the way of doing this? Any thoughts?