Green Infrastructure in Rural Communities of Mexico

Jorge Alejandro Silva Rodríguez de San Miguel

doi:10.11144/javeriana.cdr16-84.girc

Abstract

Residents of Mexico’s communities face considerable health issues. The improvement of green infrastructure bolsters the efforts of rural communities in maintaining high standards of health, subsequently making rural communities as habitable as possible. This paper aims to critically assess the existing literature on this topic between 2000 and 2018 because most sources fell comfortably within this range and no other comparable systematic review, either selective or comprehensive in nature, has been conducted in this respect. The results of the review suggest that a greater focus on the development of green infrastructure in rural areas is required.

Highlights

Residents of Mexico’s communities face considerable health issues, albeit less intense than those faced by citizens living in the country’s largest urban centres, including Mexico City – where health issues are the worst in the country (Barraza-Lloréns, Bertozzi, González-Pier & Gutiérrez, 2012)
The purpose of this study is to systematically review as much of the existing literature on the research topic as could be sourced through multiple database searches in order to make a worthwhile contribution to the research community by offering the most comprehensive analysis of the empirical and non-empirical literature available on green infrastructure developments in rural communities across Mexico, in addition to addressing the outcomes of studies, measures and policies on these communities – namely, their effects on the health of citizens and the habitability of their communities
The review shows that very little headway has been made with regards to the development of rural green infrastructure in Mexico, instead with the majority of funding being poured into urban greening projects, especially in Mexico City

Summary

Introduction

Residents of Mexico’s communities face considerable health issues, albeit less intense than those faced by citizens living in the country’s largest urban centres, including Mexico City – where health issues are the worst in the country (Barraza-Lloréns, Bertozzi, González-Pier & Gutiérrez, 2012). The improvement of green infrastructure bolsters the efforts of rural communities in maintaining high standards of health, subsequently making rural communities as habitable as possible (Salinas, Al Snih, Markides, Ray & Angel, 2010). Green is just one of these, with others including: smart; resilient; human; sustainable; ecologic; biophilic and many more (Villa, 2018). Among these factors, the notion that a habitable community must be a healthy one has been given little value until relatively recently irrespective of how germane such an idea is. It is vital that rural communities are able to offer their citizens a good standard of health and habitability above all else (Villa, 2018)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion