Socio-Environmental Perception of an Urban Wetland and Sustainability Scenarios: a Case Study in Mexico City

Abstract

Local perceptions of landscape attributes are recognized as critical in the evaluation of multifunctional territories; however, case studies in the urban wetlands context are limited. This study assesses socioeconomic, environmental and regional management variables that may directly and indirectly affect local population’s perceptions, altering stakeholders concerns for defining urban wetland management agendas in the San Gregorio de Atapulco wetland of Xochimilco, Mexico City. Using Principal Component Analysis, we evaluated factors influencing socioenvironmental perceptions among urban wetland residents in the context of the chinampa area, an ancestral agro-productive system south of Mexico City. Results indicate the majority of socioeconomic and environmental variables, excluding age, gender and education, were not statistically significant. Regional management variables, particularly pertaining to canals, urban housing and irregular settlements, had significantly more importance than socioeconomic and environmental variables and influence resident’s perceptions of factors that detract from and promote sustainability of the urban wetland. In terms of urban wetland management agendas, locals` concerns were related to the effects of urbanization, wetland governance and regional habitability. We suggest that urban wetland policy developed within neighborhood planning units and aimed at reducing urban sprawl while introducing landscape conservation strategies could positively affect better local land use and wetland sustainability.