Mexico City: Our common future?

Environment and Urbanization

Volumn 11, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 53-78

  Connolly, Priscilla ^a,b  

^a UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA METROPOLITANA AZCAPOTZALCO   (Mexico)

^b UNIVERSIDAD AUTÓNOMA METROPOLITANA   (Mexico)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS; ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY; INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK; URBAN AREA;

MEXICO; MEXICO CITY;

EID: 0032804319     PISSN: 09562478     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/095624789901100116     Document Type: Article

References (60)

1. For example, by Richard Rogers in his 1995 Reith Lectures. Published in Rogers, R. (1997), Cities fora Small Planet, Faber and Faber, London, page 28.
2. For example, by Richard Rogers in his 1995 Reith Lectures. Published in Rogers, R. (1997), Cities fora Small Planet, Faber and Faber, London, page 28.
3. Schteingart, M. (1989), "The environmental problems associated with urban development in Mexico City", Environment and Urbanization Vol. 1, No. 1, pages 40-50.
4. Ehrlich, Paul, (1968), The Population Time Bomb, Washington; also Vogt, W. (1961), People! Challenge to Survival, London.
5. Ehrlich, Paul, (1968), The Population Time Bomb, Washington; also Vogt, W. (1961), People! Challenge to Survival, London.
6. See reference 1, page 27. Similar visions are propagated in recent textbooks, for example Potter R. and S. Lloyd Evans (1998), The City in the Developing World, Addison Wesely Longman, Harlovv. Here, adjectives such as "staggering" and "record-breaking" repeatedly describe recent urbanization in "the so-called developing world" (page 3).
7. The goal of decentralizing Mexico City and the other two major metropolitan areas has figured in all the national urban development programmes since the first, in 1976. The most recent Programa de 100 Ciudades prioritizes certain cities for urban development. It is not clear, however, to what extent public - let alone private - investment is affected by these plans as data on the actual geographical location of public and private investment is almost non-existent. See Connolly, P. (1997), "Inversión pública y crisis financiera", Diseño y Sociedad No.7/97, pages 37-46.
8. Errors in the 1980 national population census and its incompatibility with those of 1970 and 1990 have been widely commented upon. See Camposortega, S. (1994), "Evolución y tendencias demográficas de la ZMCM" in La Zona Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México: problemática actual y perspectivas demográficas y urbanas, Consejo Nacional de la Población, Mexico DF.
9. Also, to a lesser extent, from 1996-97.
10. The proportion of total population living in towns and cities with more than 15,000 inhabitants rose from 28 per cent in 1950 to 61 per cent in 1990. However, this does not mean that Mexico is anywhere near being an urbanized country, as is often claimed. In 1990, over 23 million people lived in localities with fewer than 2,500 inhabitants (more than ever previously) with a mean population of 151.This suggests an absolute increase in the number of people living dispersed in rural areas without any kind of basic services and often without road access.
11. Estimates by Consejo Nacional de la Población (1997), based on a comparison between their 1987 and 1992 surveys.
12. For a quantitative assessment of recent migration patterns see Luque, R. and R. Corona (1992), "El perfil de la migración en la ZMCM" in La Zona Metropolitana de la Ciudad de Me"xico: problemática actual y perspectivas demográficas y urbanas, Consejo Nacional de la Población, Mexico DF. For a more qualitative appreciation of the same tendencies and for evidence that middle-class emigration out of Mexico City could be influenced by the deteriorating environment, see Izazola, H., C. Martinez and C. Marquette (1998), "Environmental perceptions, social class and demographic change: a comparative approach", Environment and Urbanization Vol. 10, No.1, April, pages 107-118.
13. For a quantitative assessment of recent migration patterns see Luque, R. and R. Corona (1992), "El perfil de la migración en la ZMCM" in La Zona Metropolitana de la Ciudad de Me"xico: problemática actual y perspectivas demográficas y urbanas, Consejo Nacional de la Población, Mexico DF. For a more qualitative appreciation of the same tendencies and for evidence that middle-class emigration out of Mexico City could be influenced by the deteriorating environment, see Izazola, H., C. Martinez and C. Marquette (1998), "Environmental perceptions, social class and demographic change: a comparative approach", Environment and Urbanization Vol. 10, No.1, April, pages 107-118.
14. It was widely predicted that, by 1990, Mexico City would be the second largest city in the world, after Tokyo-Yokohama, with 20 million inhabitants, reaching almost 28 million in 2000.The 1990 census showed 14.7 million, causing a general downscaling of predictions. By 2010, Mexico City will scarcely make the UN top ten league of the world's biggest cities (see United Nations (1991), Urbanization Outlook; also United Nations (1995), Informe Mundial de Asentamientos Humanos, New York. Regarding overestimation in other Third World cities, see Satterthwaite, D. (1996), The Scale and Nature of Urban Change in the South, research paper, IIED, London; also Gilbert, A. (1993), "Third world cities: the changing national settlement system", Urban Studies Vol. 30, Nos.4-5. On Mexico City's polarization reversal, see Rowland, A. and P. Gordon (1996), "Mexico City: No longer a Leviathan?" in Alan Gilbert (editor), The MegaCity in Latin America, United Nations University Press, Tokyo. In many other recent publications, Mexico City is still cited as the largest city in the world with over 30 million inhabitants by the year 2010 (see, for example, reference 4, Potter and Lloyd Evans (1998), pages 16 and 132).
15. It was widely predicted that, by 1990, Mexico City would be the second largest city in the world, after Tokyo-Yokohama, with 20 million inhabitants, reaching almost 28 million in 2000.The 1990 census showed 14.7 million, causing a general downscaling of predictions. By 2010, Mexico City will scarcely make the UN top ten league of the world's biggest cities (see United Nations (1991), Urbanization Outlook; also United Nations (1995), Informe Mundial de Asentamientos Humanos, New York. Regarding overestimation in other Third World cities, see Satterthwaite, D. (1996), The Scale and Nature of Urban Change in the South, research paper, IIED, London; also Gilbert, A. (1993), "Third world cities: the changing national settlement system", Urban Studies Vol. 30, Nos.4-5. On Mexico City's polarization reversal, see Rowland, A. and P. Gordon (1996), "Mexico City: No longer a Leviathan?" in Alan Gilbert (editor), The MegaCity in Latin America, United Nations University Press, Tokyo. In many other recent publications, Mexico City is still cited as the largest city in the world with over 30 million inhabitants by the year 2010 (see, for example, reference 4, Potter and Lloyd Evans (1998), pages 16 and 132).
16. It was widely predicted that, by 1990, Mexico City would be the second largest city in the world, after Tokyo-Yokohama, with 20 million inhabitants, reaching almost 28 million in 2000.The 1990 census showed 14.7 million, causing a general downscaling of predictions. By 2010, Mexico City will scarcely make the UN top ten league of the world's biggest cities (see United Nations (1991), Urbanization Outlook; also United Nations (1995), Informe Mundial de Asentamientos Humanos, New York. Regarding overestimation in other Third World cities, see Satterthwaite, D. (1996), The Scale and Nature of Urban Change in the South, research paper, IIED, London; also Gilbert, A. (1993), "Third world cities: the changing national settlement system", Urban Studies Vol. 30, Nos.4-5. On Mexico City's polarization reversal, see Rowland, A. and P. Gordon (1996), "Mexico City: No longer a Leviathan?" in Alan Gilbert (editor), The MegaCity in Latin America, United Nations University Press, Tokyo. In many other recent publications, Mexico City is still cited as the largest city in the world with over 30 million inhabitants by the year 2010 (see, for example, reference 4, Potter and Lloyd Evans (1998), pages 16 and 132).
17. It was widely predicted that, by 1990, Mexico City would be the second largest city in the world, after Tokyo-Yokohama, with 20 million inhabitants, reaching almost 28 million in 2000.The 1990 census showed 14.7 million, causing a general downscaling of predictions. By 2010, Mexico City will scarcely make the UN top ten league of the world's biggest cities (see United Nations (1991), Urbanization Outlook; also United Nations (1995), Informe Mundial de Asentamientos Humanos, New York. Regarding overestimation in other Third World cities, see Satterthwaite, D. (1996), The Scale and Nature of Urban Change in the South, research paper, IIED, London; also Gilbert, A. (1993), "Third world cities: the changing national settlement system", Urban Studies Vol. 30, Nos.4-5. On Mexico City's polarization reversal, see Rowland, A. and P. Gordon (1996), "Mexico City: No longer a Leviathan?" in Alan Gilbert (editor), The MegaCity in Latin America, United Nations University Press, Tokyo. In many other recent publications, Mexico City is still cited as the largest city in the world with over 30 million inhabitants by the year 2010 (see, for example, reference 4, Potter and Lloyd Evans (1998), pages 16 and 132).
18. It was widely predicted that, by 1990, Mexico City would be the second largest city in the world, after Tokyo-Yokohama, with 20 million inhabitants, reaching almost 28 million in 2000.The 1990 census showed 14.7 million, causing a general downscaling of predictions. By 2010, Mexico City will scarcely make the UN top ten league of the world's biggest cities (see United Nations (1991), Urbanization Outlook; also United Nations (1995), Informe Mundial de Asentamientos Humanos, New York. Regarding overestimation in other Third World cities, see Satterthwaite, D. (1996), The Scale and Nature of Urban Change in the South, research paper, IIED, London; also Gilbert, A. (1993), "Third world cities: the changing national settlement system", Urban Studies Vol. 30, Nos.4-5. On Mexico City's polarization reversal, see Rowland, A. and P. Gordon (1996), "Mexico City: No longer a Leviathan?" in Alan Gilbert (editor), The MegaCity in Latin America, United Nations University Press, Tokyo. In many other recent publications, Mexico City is still cited as the largest city in the world with over 30 million inhabitants by the year 2010 (see, for example, reference 4, Potter and Lloyd Evans (1998), pages 16 and 132).
19. What follows diametrically opposes Rowland and Gordon's conclusions, which consider that the slowing down of Mexico City's growth, by avoiding the "doomsday scenario" of "...housing, infrastructure and services falling further behind the rapidly growing population" has given "...the authorities a chance to catch up with the problems." Thus, "...in terms of settlement patterns, the effects of economic liberalization are mostly benign" (see reference 11, Rowland and Gordon (1996), pages 198-9). An opposing view, by someone who understands that solving cities' environmental problems is not just a question of "authorities catching up" is put forward by Satterthwaite, who states "There is also evidence that the scale of urban poverty grew considerabley in most countries during the 1980s when they experienced serious economic problems and were also facing a slowdown in the rate of growth of their urban populations" (see reference 11, Satterthwaite (1996), page 19).
20. Average number of live births per woman at the end of her reproductive life in the Zona Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México (Centro de laVivienda y Estudios Urbanos (1996), Escenarios Demográticos y Urbanos de la Zona Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México 1995 a 2010, unpublished study for Consejo Nacional de la Población (CONAPO)). Recent CONAPO publications state that the national fertility rate dropped from more than seven in 1975 to 2.6 in 1995.
21. The tremendous impact of falling fertility rates all around the world on practically all aspects of human existence, particularly on women's lives, does not seem to have been fully taken on board in debates on human settlements. For a good account of the way in which fertility rates are connected to economic crisis, migration and urbanization see Matthews, G. and L.N.Tellier (1993), "La transition démographique au Maghreb et l'evolution du systeme urbanine Marocain", Cahier/Discussion Paper No. 3-93, Villes et Développement, Groupe interuniversitaire de Montréal.
22. These programmes started with the post-earthquake reconstruction project of the late 1980s which, by providing 44,000 dwellings in central areas, had a considerable impact on retaining population in the affected areas. Since 1988, the Federal District government has been developing new low-cost housing units in central areas in the order of 600 per year.
23. This was examined in Connolly, P. (1998), "El financiamiento de vivienda en México" in Herrrasti, M.E. and J. Villavicencio (1998), La Política habitacional en América Latina: balance y perspectivas, Centro de la Vivienda y Estudios Urbanos/Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Azcapotzalco, México DF.
24. Between 1970 and 1995, the four inner-city jurisdictions lost 1.1 million inhabitants, equivalent to 62 per cent of their combined 1995 population of 1.7 million. Since 1980, four more centrally located jurisdictions have also begun to lose population. (Population data from Porras, A. (1997), "El distrito federal en la dinámica megalopolitana en el cambio del siglo" in Eibenshutz, R. (editor) (1997), Bases para la Planeación del Desarrollo de la Ciudad de México. Tomo 1: Economía y Sociedad en la Metropoli, Miguel Angel Porrúa/Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Xochimilco, Table 1.
25. Duhau, E. (1997), "Las finanzas públicas locales en la zona metropolitana de la ciudad de México" in Coulomb, R. and E. Duhau (editors), Dinámica Urbana y Procesos Socio-Políticos: Investigaciones Recientes sobre la Ciudad de México, Centro de la Vivienda y Estudios Urbanos AC, México, page 105.
26. See reference 18, pages 103-4.
27. The belief that the free circulation of water and air was an essential condition for health has been widely accepted in Mexico since the eighteenth century and has inspired public urban design. Even today, there is the widespread practice in Mexico of throwing rubbish down creeks and into rivers, presumably in the hope that some of it will be washed away in the next rainy season.
28. The major drainage works that were effected at the end of the nineteenth century were based on the project designed by Don Francisco de Garay in 1856 which included not only the canal and tunnel, to be used only during emergency flooding, but also a series of secondary canals for retaining water inside the valley, to be used for irrigation, transport and recreational purposes. The urgent need for sewage disposal combined with economic limitations eliminated these additional elements from the final project.
29. For a very good account of Mexico City's hydraulic problem, see Academia de la Investigación Científica (1995), El Agua y la Ciudad de México, México DF; also Castañeda, V. (1997), Repertorio de los Tiempos e Historia Natural desde Nueva España, Edición Facsimile, Centro de Estudios de Historia de México, CONDUMEX (1981). Later observers of Mexico City's environmental degradation include Alexander Von Humboldt (1815), Spanish version entitled "Ensayo político sobre el reino de la nueva Espana" in Sepan Cuantos No.39, Editorial Porrúa, Mexico DF (1981); also Fanny Calderón de la Barca (1843), Life in Mexico, Facsimile edition, Century Hutchinson, London (1987).
30. For a very good account of Mexico City's hydraulic problem, see Academia de la Investigación Científica (1995), El Agua y la Ciudad de México, México DF; also Castañeda, V. (1997), Repertorio de los Tiempos e Historia Natural desde Nueva España, Edición Facsimile, Centro de Estudios de Historia de México, CONDUMEX (1981). Later observers of Mexico City's environmental degradation include Alexander Von Humboldt (1815), Spanish version entitled "Ensayo político sobre el reino de la nueva Espana" in Sepan Cuantos No.39, Editorial Porrúa, Mexico DF (1981); also Fanny Calderón de la Barca (1843), Life in Mexico, Facsimile edition, Century Hutchinson, London (1987).
31. For a very good account of Mexico City's hydraulic problem, see Academia de la Investigación Científica (1995), El Agua y la Ciudad de México, México DF; also Castañeda, V. (1997), Repertorio de los Tiempos e Historia Natural desde Nueva España, Edición Facsimile, Centro de Estudios de Historia de México, CONDUMEX (1981). Later observers of Mexico City's environmental degradation include Alexander Von Humboldt (1815), Spanish version entitled "Ensayo político sobre el reino de la nueva Espana" in Sepan Cuantos No.39, Editorial Porrúa, Mexico DF (1981); also Fanny Calderón de la Barca (1843), Life in Mexico, Facsimile edition, Century Hutchinson, London (1987).
32. For a very good account of Mexico City's hydraulic problem, see Academia de la Investigación Científica (1995), El Agua y la Ciudad de México, México DF; also Castañeda, V. (1997), Repertorio de los Tiempos e Historia Natural desde Nueva España, Edición Facsimile, Centro de Estudios de Historia de México, CONDUMEX (1981). Later observers of Mexico City's environmental degradation include Alexander Von Humboldt (1815), Spanish version entitled "Ensayo político sobre el reino de la nueva Espana" in Sepan Cuantos No.39, Editorial Porrúa, Mexico DF (1981); also Fanny Calderón de la Barca (1843), Life in Mexico, Facsimile edition, Century Hutchinson, London (1987).
33. This programme, the Programa Integral de Recuperación de Bosques y Areas Verdes del Distrito Federal, proposes to plant over 10 million trees in rural areas of the Federal District and 2 million within the city. that industrial waste is "out of control".Two million metric tonnes are adequately disposed of; 70 or 80 metric tonnes are exported to the USA, the UK, France, Finland and Holland every year at a cost of about US$ 100 million and it is not known where the other 6 million remaining tonnes of toxic residues end up. Reported in Reforma, 22 September, 1998, 1-A, 3-A.
34. The control of Mexico's energy resources, which are still nationalized, and their future development is a national concern.
35. Sixty-six per cent of Mexico's national net electricity generation in 1997 was oil or gas powered thermo-electric, 16 per cent hydro-electric, 10 per cent coal powered thermo-electric, 5 per cent nuclear, 3 per cent geothermal and an insignificant amount eolo-electric. (Data from Secretaría de Energia, in Zedillo, E., (1998), IV Informe de Gobierno, annexe, page 175.)
36. López, R. and E. Ordaz (1994), "Desarrollo industrial, consumo de energia y contaminación", Ciudades No.21, January-March, page 50; also Pedrero R. (1994), "Vision económica del sector eléctrico" in Resendiz, D. (editor), El Sector Eléctrico de México, Comistón Federal de Electricidad-Fondo de Cultura Económica, México, page 357.
37. López, R. and E. Ordaz (1994), "Desarrollo industrial, consumo de energia y contaminación", Ciudades No.21, January-March, page 50; also Pedrero R. (1994), "Vision económica del sector eléctrico" in Resendiz, D. (editor), El Sector Eléctrico de México, Comistón Federal de Electricidad-Fondo de Cultura Económica, México, page 357.
38. The Federal District contributes 27 per cent to the national GDP while consuming 18.5 per cent of total energy consumption. The Federal District and the state of Mexico together generate 43 per cent of total industrial GDP and consume 28.5 per cent of total industrial energy consumption ( see reference 34, López and Ordaz (1994)).
39. Outside Mexico City, information on atmospheric pollution is available only for Monterrey, Guadalajara, Toluca and Ciudad Juárez. Declaration by Julia Carabias, Minister for the Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries Secretary, La Jornada (1998), 25 June.
40. Legorreta, J. (1995), Transporte y Contaminación en la Ciudad de México, Centro de Ecología y Desarrollo, México gives a very good account of the early monitoring policy.
41. Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente (1998), InformeTrianual 1995-1997, page 44.
42. Centro de Estudios del Sector Privado para el Desarrollo Sustentable (1998), Ciudad de México: respirando el futuro. Evaluación del Programa para Mejorar la Calidad del Aire de la Zona Metropolitana de la Ciudad de México 1995-2000, page 49.
43. A recent study points out the urgent need to update this emissions inventory, elaborated in 1994, on which pollution control policy is still based, see Centro de Estudios del Sector Privado para el Desarrollo Sustentable (1998), Normatividad Ambiental y Emisiones Vehiculares en México, page 69.
44. But this is nothing compared to the sulphur dioxide occasionally released into the atmosphere of Mexico City, Puebla and other nearby towns and cities by the Popocatepetl volcano.
45. Departamento del Distrito Federal, Gobierno del Estado de México, Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática (1994), "Origen y destino"; also Departamento del Distrito Federal, Secretaría de Transportes y Vialidad (1996), Programs Integral de/Transporte y Vialidad 1995-2000 (Versión Actualizada).
46. Departamento del Distrito Federal, Gobierno del Estado de México, Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática (1994), "Origen y destino"; also Departamento del Distrito Federal, Secretaría de Transportes y Vialidad (1996), Programs Integral de/Transporte y Vialidad 1995-2000 (Versión Actualizada).
47. See reference 37, Legorreta (1995), pages 154-80 for the best account of this 44. Departamento del Distrito Federal, Secretaría deTransporte y Vialidad (1998), Distribución del Parque Vehicular del Transporte Concesionado, 1996, Mexico DF; also Pastrana, D. (1998), "Circulan en el distrito federal cerca de 12 mil taxis piratas", La Jornada, 12 July.
48. See reference 37, Legorreta (1995), pages 154-80 for the best account of this 44. Departamento del Distrito Federal, Secretaría deTransporte y Vialidad (1998), Distribución del Parque Vehicular del Transporte Concesionado, 1996, Mexico DF; also Pastrana, D. (1998), "Circulan en el distrito federal cerca de 12 mil taxis piratas", La Jornada, 12 July.
49. In January 1998, it was found that seven out of the ten companies that had won concessions to operate the newly privatized bus routes the previous year had not acquired a single bus (reported in El Universal, 28 January, 1998).
50. Calculated from Janes Urban Transport Systems (1998).
51. Demand for transport in Mexico City is so inelastic that using prices as an incentive to change transport patterns would probably have to be so extreme as to be totally unfeasible.
52. Departamento del Distrito Federal, Secretaría de Transportes y Vialidad (1996), Programa Integral de Vialidad y Transporte. Revisión 1995-2000, Mexico DF.
53. The question of safety, either for the motorist or for pedestrians, is not an area of major public concern in spite of the extremely high accident rates. According to Arturo Lomelí (president of the Mexican Association for Studies on Consumer Defence) 2,000 people are killed and 90,000 injured every year in road accidents in Mexico City, which also implies costs of around 270 million pesos (Excelsior, 21 April 1998).
54. Gitli, E. and J. Rocha (1988), La Inversión Extranjera Directa y el Modelo Exportador Mexicano de los Ochenta, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Azcapotzalco, México DF; also recent data supplied by the Secretaría de Comercio y Fomento Industrial (1998). "Gestion integral de los recursos hidráulico" in Eibenshutz, see reference 17.
55. It has been estimated that the total energy costs for pumping water through Mexico City's hydraulic system is US$ 0.20 per cubic metre or approximately US$ 1 million per year; see Ezcurra, E. (1990), De las Chinampas a la Megalópolis: El Medio Ambiente en la Cuenca de la Ciudad de México, SEP/ CONACYT, México.
56. In spite of costly water treatment plants financed by foreign loans, only 11.3 per cent of Mexico City's combined sewage and storm water is treated. Of this, scarcely 1.2 per cent is used for irrigation and a miniscule 0.4 per cent is filtered to recharge the aquifer. (Statement by Gustavo Rodríguezof the Federal District Department of Hydraulic Construction and Operation during the seminar entitled Hacia un Desarrollo Sustentable del Habitat Construido, Mexico DF, 26-29 October 1998. Cited in Semanario de la UAM, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, 3 November, 1998.)
57. In spite of costly water treatment plants financed by foreign loans, only 11.3 per cent of Mexico City's combined sewage and storm water is treated. Of this, scarcely 1.2 per cent is used for irrigation and a miniscule 0.4 per cent is filtered to recharge the aquifer. (Statement by Gustavo Rodríguezof the Federal District Department of Hydraulic Construction and Operation during the seminar entitled Hacia un Desarrollo Sustentable del Habitat Construido, Mexico DF, 26-29 October 1998. Cited in Semanario de la UAM, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, 3 November, 1998.)
58. Castañeda, V. (1997), "Gestion integral de los recursos hidráulicos" in R. Eibenshutz (editor), Bases para la Planeación del Desarrollo en la Ciudad de México. Tomo II: Estructura de la Ciudad y su Región, Miguel Angel Porrúa/ Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Xochimilco.
59. Cárdeñas, Cuauhtémoc (1998), Primer informe de Gobierno, September.
60. The environmental degradation caused after the Spanish conquest as a result of the destruction of the Aztec city and its hydraulic defences, plus the overexploitation of forests, the introduction of livestock, etc., all in relation to the city floods, was astutely observed by the architect of the Tajo de Nochistongo, Enrico Martínez (1606),