Global economy, metropolitan dynamics and urban policies in Mexico

Abstract

This paper throws some light on the complex links between economic growth and the process of urbanization in Mexico in the 1960–1995 period, as well as on the changes in urban and regional policies. In order to clarify this historical relationship, the analysis focuses on the evolution of the Mexican system of cities according to their size, and it is divided into three subperiods: (i) the 1960–1980 decades, characterized by a swift economic growth; (ii) the 1980–1990 lost decade of a deep economic crisis; (iii) the partial economic recovery of 1990–1995. It is concluded that in the last stage, when the neoliberal or structural adjustment model consolidated, the urban system clearly moved towards a polycentric concentration in a very few metropolises, standing out the emerging megalopolitan cluster of Mexico City. Furthermore, it is argued that the abdication of the Federal Government to plan the system of cities will intensify the concentration process and the problématique of urban Mexico.