Informality in South Texas: Understanding the Evolution of Colonias in El Cenizo and Rio Bravo

Abstract

Informal cities are usually only associated with the developing world, but the emergence of colonia communities—informal settlements along the Texas side of the Rio Grande—demonstrates that is not the case. This phenomenon and Texas’ attempts to ameliorate it provide insight into the socioeconomic factors that forge informal cities, the legal and planning issues inherent in their growth, and how those issues are best addressed. This chapter focuses on the developmental histories of El Cenizo and Rio Bravo, two colonias downriver from Laredo, Texas, along the US–Mexico Border. In doing so, it distills urban planning lessons from these two emerging and evolving communities. Although typically unadmired, much can be learned from these urbanization efforts on the edge of the United States. Most important of which is that colonias have produced viable communities, despite their opportunistic and informal origins.KeywordsColoniasUS–Mexico borderUnregulated land developmentsHousing policyProperty law