It is illegal for a citizen from Mexico City to put furniture on the sidewalk in front of his or her property, unless the property is a shop that sells food and beverages. If that is the case, one can get a permit for placement of furniture on public roads, as long as furniture is not fastened to the street. The local government charges annual rent for the area in use, and the total cost per square meter –which is almost as high as commercial rent– depends on the price of real estate in the neighborhood.

By paying rent, businesses effectively acquire semi-exclusive rights to the public space. Because owners need to maximize the productive area in order to recover the investment, this sidewalk furniture can often only be used by paying customers. While the city could use this collected money to improve public space, the privatization of sidewalks has a larger negative impact on the public realm. What would happen if instead of allowing shops to pay rent and take possession the sidewalk, any person could donate furniture for public in a joint venture with the city?

 Furniture for Public Use was an experiment by APRDELESP and José Esparza Chong Cuy aimed at rethinking the use of sidewalks in Mexico City through a public-private program which allowed anyone to purchase and place plants and gray concrete furniture on their sidewalks to test the potential of sidewalks as gathering spaces and places to rest, work, eat, et cetera.

The first prototypes were placed on the sidewalk in front of Sullivan 55 in colonia San Rafael, Mexico City (2013–2016), on the sidewalk in front of the Border Warehouse during the Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture in Shenzhen, China (December 2013 – March 2014), and on the sidewalk in front of MUEBLES SULLIVAN, at the corner of James Sullivan and Miguel E. Schultz streets in colonia San Rafael, Mexico City (2013–2016).

Starting in 2016, some furniture and plants from the first prototypes of Furniture for Public Use were placed on the sidewalk in front of El Castillo de Chapultepec.