Demographic dynamics of urban growth in Mexico: 1940-1980

"In this article, the author analyzes the relationship between growth rates and the sizes of cities [in Mexico] to determine what kind of cities are the most dynamic ones in terms of their demographic growth during the 1940-1980 period. [His findings contradict] the widespread belief that in Mexico, as of 1970, there has been a process of 'metropolitanization' and of 'growth of intermediate cities'." He proposes changes to current population policy, which attempts to control urban growth through regulation. (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

An information system for the study of the urban structure of Mexico City

The author describes SIUMEX, a program she developed to analyze the urban structure of Mexico City. The program was used in 1990 to examine the city's spatial distribution and to measure the physical expansion of the urban region. Other applications for the program are briefly described.     

The geographic scope of migration in Mexico City

"This paper reports some results of analyzing migratory dynamics in the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City, which ever since the 1970-1980 decade have affected other regions of the country, mainly the State of Mexico. The analysis describes different types and modes of migratory movement: metropolitan (from Mexico City), inter-county (within each state), and interstate (between Mexico City and other states). Data was provided by the XI Population and Household Census of 1990." (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

The cholera epidemic of 1833 and mortality in Mexico City

The author examines the impact of the 1833 cholera epidemic in Mexico City, Mexico, on social, economic, and political aspects of life in that city. She finds that some five percent of the population died during the epidemic, and enumerates them by age and sex.     

Regulating the new urban poor: Local labour market control in an old industrial city

There has been considerable debate in recent years about the new forms of labour market policy developing in advanced industrial states, and especially the emergence of neo-liberal workfare regimes in the US and the UK. Conceptually, this has been viewed as part of a new form of employment regulation, based upon compulsion and coercion within a shift towards more flexible labour markets. Whilst in the UK policy might be conceived at the national level, it is at the local scale, within particular contexts, that the new employment initiatives are played out and their impact needs to be assessed. In this paper, attention is drawn to the importance of local labour control regimes, focusing upon how labour market institutions and mechanisms of regulation are developed within particular local historical contexts. In contrast to some accounts, the importance is emphasised of inherited social institutions and practices, both within the workplace and beyond in the sphere of social reproduction, in the development of local labour market regimes. Against more top–down narratives, this leads also to highlighting the importance of local autonomy and action in the emergence of new local labour control regimes as such proposed perspectives rejoin community-based practices with more conventionally perceived work-based struggles. The arguments are illustrated through an examination of a specific set of labour market programmes established to ‘deal’ with the after-effects of deindustrialisation in the city of Glasgow and in particular the need to manage those displaced by the shift from a productivist economy to one increasingly geared towards services and consumption.     

Some recent findings regarding the demographic history of Mexico

The author reviews recent contributions to the field of historical demography concerning Mexico. Articles are grouped into sections on demographic crisis, nuptiality, and the family and household. An extensive bibliography is included.     

Fertility in rural and urban areas of Mexico

Data from 6 fertility surveys conducted in Mexico between 1969-87 were used to compare rural and urban fertility and to determine whether a significant level of contraceptive usage could be achieved in rural areas despite their lack of socioeconomic development. Age-specific marital fertility rates were calculated for the 4 national-level and 2 rural fertility surveys. The index of fertility control developed by Coale and Trussel was calculated for rural, urban, and all areas. The marital total fertility rate in rural areas declined from 10.6 in 1970 to 7.4 in 1982, a decline of 2.5% annually. From 1982-87 the annual rate of decline in rural fertility slowed to 1.6%, reaching 6.8 children in 1987. The urban marital total fertility rate declined from 7.72 in 1976 to 5.03 in 1987, while the marital total fertility rate for Mexico as a whole declined from 9.04 in 1976 to 5.85 in 1987. The indices of fertility control showed slowly increasing use of contraception in rural areas starting from the very low level of 1969. The urban index of fertility control showed some contraceptive use for all age groups in all surveys. The increases in contraceptive usage were considerable in rural areas from 1976-82 and much less marked in urban areas. From 1982-87 the inverse was observed and the fertility decline in urban areas was more marked. The condition of natural fertility found in rural areas in 1969 subsequently disappeared. Over time, fertility decline and use of contraception have intensified. Contraception is widely practiced in urban areas and is continuing to become more prevalent. The rural fertility decline in 1976-82 suggests that at least sometimes increases in fertility control are more important in rural areas than in urban areas. The theory of modernization, which holds that fertility decline in developed countries is attributable to factors associated with the process of modernization, thus comes into question. However, it is probable that a sustained fertility decline in the most depressed rural areas will be achieved only with substantial socioeconomic change.     

Population dynamics,urban structure,and production of living space in the metropolitan zone of Mexico City

"In this article, an attempt is made to account for certain trends in the growth and distribution of the population, and in the structuring of living space in the metropolitan zone of Mexico City.... Among the important conclusions of this essay are those having to do with the huge growth of some political-administrative units and the relation of this phenomenon to the practices followed by private realtors, often articulated with the policies and programs set by the State's housing agencies, as well as those that associate urban growth and expansion with the development of habitational spaces within the so-called 'formal' and 'informal' housing sectors." Data are from Mexican censuses and other official sources. (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

The participation of women in urban labor markets in Mexico: 1970-1980

This article analyzes the presence of women in urban labor markets in Mexico during the 1970s in terms of the regional location of the city and the type and diversity of employment opportunities for women. 49 cities with over 100,000 inhabitants in 1980 were grouped into 3 regions, the relatively urban and industrial north, the heterogeneous center, and the less developed south. Census data for 1970 and 1980 on male and female labor force participation in the municipios containing the 49 cities were analyzed to assess urban labor markets. The cities were grouped according to whether they had higher or lower than average rates of labor force participation in the 2 study years. The cities of the north included the greatest relative number of cases of low female and male labor force participation in 1970 and 1980 and a declining trend for the 1970s. Cities of the center had the highest levels of male and female labor force participation in both 1970 and 1980 and showed a trend toward increasing female participation in the 1970s. Cities in the south were in an intermediate position, but during the 1970s a high percentage showed a trend toward increase in male participation and decrease in female participation. Typologies of the cities were then constructed based on female age specific participation rates and female occupational distribution. Urban areas with high rates of participation among young women aged 15-24 years were distinguished from those with high participation rates for younger and older women, and those with less diversified employment opportunities for women were distinguished from those with more diversity. Female participation presented marked variations between regions. In general, women participated to a greater degree in diversified labor markets that absorbed workers of different ages and degrees of qualification. There were not necessarily more female workers in cities that were more dynamic in terms of economy and male participation. Cities of 100,000 or more inhabitants in the center were characterized by a high proportion of women of different ages in the labor market. Cities in the north had lower average levels of female participation although those on the northern border had a high participation of young women in manufactures and assembly. Southern cities employed women in manual occupations, especially in commerce and services. Primarily adolescents under 15 and women over 25 were employed. Apart from the regional variations there were variations in female employment within regions. An annex discusses the study methodology in greater detail.     

The legal environment of planned urban growth

The part that law as a skill and as a discipline can and should play in urban development and in the work of an urban development agency is discussed on the basis of recent experience in three countries. Emphasis is given to the importance of involving lawyers from the start of any programme for planned urban growth, and the disadvantage of bringing lawyers in only for specific legal jobs is stressed. The article surveys the range of work in which a lawyer is necessarily involved where planned urban development proceeds within a framework of law.     

Moving into and out of poor urban areas

Newly available geographical information from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) is used to estimate a variety of relationships involving high-poverty metropolitan census tracts. The longitudinal data from the PSID show a great deal of geographical mobility even for persistently poor adults, with as many as one fourth of certain groups of these entering and leaving poor urban census tracts in a year. At the same time, solution of the transition matrices for various groups—whites and blacks of various income classes, in families with and without children, living in different types of census tracts—in the early 1980s shows the gradual emptying out of poor urban tracts, particularly of whites and blacks in families without children. As a consequence, despite the great degree of geographical “churning,” poor urban areas gradually become poorer, blacker, and the home of a larger share of black families with children. Some of these aggregate trends had been noticed by researchers comparing these areas in the 1970 and 1980 censuses; our more up-to-date results demonstrate the relationships between the micro and macro data.     

From rings to segregation. Mexico City, 1950-1987

The author discusses different methods of urban analysis, using the example of Mexico City, Mexico. "In this work two outlines are used: a concentric one that reflects the city's expansion and a segregated one that sees the 'different cities' within. We analyze the commercial occupation of central areas and the growth due to the expansion of the periphery from 1950 to 1986. In both processes, the massive expulsion of the inhabitants appears, firstly as an effect and secondly as a cause. This fact serves as an argument to explore certain proposals in a prospective dimension. In the technical [spatial] analysis we generally avoid the design of the city itself. Here we approach some design ideas without forgetting their social dimension." (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

Recent changes in migration patterns in the Mexico City metropolitan zone

"This study analyzes the magnitude, evolution over time, and place of origin of migrants to the ZMCM [Mexico City metropolitan zone] during the 1970s and 80s. More specifically, the study attempts to test the following hypothesis: attraction of migrants to the ZMCM has diminished over time;...thus the ZMCM is emerging as an important origin of migrants toward other cities. The article also provides an analysis of the changes in the characteristics of the migrants...." (SUMMARY IN ENG)     

A critique of quasiexperimental and statistical controils for measuring program effects: Application to urban growth control

Most studies evaluating the effect on housing prices of regulatory programs for controlling urban growth use econometric methods (hedonic price models) without considering the research-design aspects of the task. The article examines the strengths and weaknesses of several quasiexperimental and statistical methods for measuring the effect of growth-control programs, using criteria extracted from theory. The methodological critique is tested empirically by comparing several methods using data from the growth-control community of Davis, California and from three comparison communities. The empirical test demonstrates that different research designs can produce, large differences in the magnitudes of estimated effects, and that adding statistical controls to quasiexperimental controls permits the detection of smaller effects.     

Democratic Deepening in Third Wave Democracies: Experiments with Participation in Mexico City

After the initial transition to democratic rule the question of how to improve the quality of democracy has become the key challenge facing Third Wave democracies. In the debate about the promotion of more responsive government, institutional reforms to increase direct participation of citizens in policy-making have been put on the agenda. The Federal District of Mexico City constitutes a particularly intriguing case in this debate. This article explores how political participation developed in Mexico City between 1997 and 2003 and what effects this has had on democratic deepening. It develops an ideal-type conceptual framework of citizen participation that outlines the conditions under which participation contributes to democratic deepening. Overall, the case of Mexico City highlights how the promotion of participation can fail to make the aspired contribution to democratic deepening and might even have negative effects on the quality of democracy.