Environmental Conflicts Related to Urban Expansion Involving Agrarian Communities in Central Mexico

Victoria Ruiz Rincón,Sara Mingorria,Joan Martínez-Alier

doi:10.3390/su11236545

Victoria Ruiz Rincón, Sara Mingorria + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su11236545

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Journal: Sustainability	Publication Date: Nov 20, 2019
Citations: 9	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: Autonomous University of Barcelona

Abstract

Rural territories and cultures have been increasingly sacrificed through depopulation, invasion by infrastructure, and the presence of industries which are incompatible with agriculture. Meanwhile, the expansion of urban space through demographic agglomeration and the concentration of activities in cities is leading to a progressively urbanised world. This article sheds light on the particularities of the relationship between urban expansion and the assault on agrarian modes of existence that survive at the diffuse urban frontiers in Central Mexico. A multiple case study was carried out; nine social-environmental conflicts where an agrarian community resisted the installation of urban infrastructure or city enterprises were analysed through the perspective of Political Ecology and environmental justice. Peasant communities question the political, economic, environmental, and cultural factors of the hegemonic social configuration as urban megaprojects menace their territory. In their struggles, they highlight that urban development undermines the very conditions necessary for the existence of the city, as its social metabolism depends in part on the resources these rural communities are defending.

Highlights

One of the greatest social changes of the last century, the disappearance of the world’s peasantry, was evidenced in 2007 when for the first time, most of the world’s population lived in cities [1]
Other expressions of the territorial gain of the city can be found in the expansion of its urban infrastructure
We find that the groups who tend to mobilise first against urban sprawl infrastructure projects consist of the semi-urban population, whose main economic activities revolve around agriculture

Summary

Introduction

One of the greatest social changes of the last century, the disappearance of the world’s peasantry, was evidenced in 2007 when for the first time, most of the world’s population lived in cities [1]. This phenomenon has profound environmental implications as it represents a planetary territorial transformation. The way in which conditions of urban existence, namely the provision of resources, and waste disposal services are made socially “invisible” has given birth to the “urban fetish” [6]. In 2007, for the first time in human history, the majority of the world’s population lived in cities [1]

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