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Mexico City, Mexico
Built on an island in Lake Texoco in the early fourteenth
century, the Aztec city of Tenochtitln was the largest city in
the Americas. Rebuilt after the Spanish conquest, Mexico City
served as the political, administrative and financial centre of a
major part of the colonial empire of Spain. During the latter
part of the nineteenth century, Mexico City modernized rapidly.
The industrial development of the city was facilitated by the
fact that it had the best infrastructure of the country, the
largest consumer market, and a relatively well-trained labour
force.
Due to the devastation of the smallpox epidemic in 1520, Mexico
City began its existence with only 30,000 people. Over the
next four centuries population levels grew slowly until the
spectacular growth of the twentieth century. Migration was
more important than natural increase in fueling the population
growth in Mexico City. From a population of 1.6 million in 1940,
it increased to 3.1 million in 1950, 5.4 million in 1960, 9.1
million in 1970, 13.9 million in 1980, and about 15.6 million
in 1995.
This rapid growth in Mexico City was the outcome of policies
that greatly favoured the concentration of industrial production
in Mexico City. Mexico City had access to electricity, oil and
other power sources, the provision of water and drainage
facilities, and was the focus of major road investment
programmes. The most important industrial activities undertaken
in the city include the manufacture of clothing, furniture and
repairs, publishing activities, production of rubber, plastic
and metal goods, as well as the assembly and repair of
electrical goods. Most of this production was for the national
and local markets rather than oriented towards global markets, as
is now the case due to the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Urbanization has had a serious negative effect on the ecosystem
of Mexico City. Though water supplies have increased to 300
liters per day per capita, the city lacks an efficient
distribution system. Although 80% of the population have piped
inside plumbing, residents in the peripheral areas cannot
access the sewage network and a great percentage of waste-water
remains untreated as it passes to the north for use as
irrigation water.
Pollution is undoubtedly the most serious
problem in Mexico City. 2.6 million private automobiles in the
city were estimated to be responsible for 50% of traffic
congestion and produced about 80% of air pollution.
Though government planning strategies strive towards the
decentralization of Mexico City, tax subsidies and other
government actions often make the city more attractive than other
areas. Furthermore, Mexicans who desire to remain in Mexico
City are influenced by numerous social, political, educational
and cultural factor, and they often equate living in Mexico City
with the image of personal success. It seems unlikely,
therefore, that the national predominance of Mexico City will
change very much during the remainder of the twentieth century.
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