Mexico Urban lecture

 

1. Mexico as a Megacity

world megacities

sensory experience

structure/size population

11 daily newspapers

1000 museums

a million restaurants/cafes?

Film industry

bookstores/publishing

 

3 questions:

why is Mexico so big?

history and politics of centralization

pre-Conquest

early colonial

19th century

post-revolutionary

contemporary scene

politics of centralization

culture

what environmental problems does Mexico confront?

air quality

water contamination

sprawl and struggle over Œzonas de peligroš/dangerous terrains

how does Mexico continue to function?

political organization of neighborhoods

decentralization in public services

transport

shopping

Mexico City‹Non-Point Politics

 

 

1. Growth + Auto ownership = Toxic trouble

 

Growth is major problem

Urban growth rates Phenomenal

 

1955-2 million

1975-8 million

1995-22 million

2000- ???

What causes/What effects?

 

Non-Point Source Air Contamination

 

1. Cars Contaminate

i. VOC's + UV = O3

ii. CO

iii. Pb

 

2. Atmospheric Inversions

i. Mountains

ii. Climate Winter drought/Low wind

iii. Inversion layers, cool air over warm

 

3. Water:

i. former lake

ii. toxic organics; heavy metals

iii. Urban-Rural Conflict

      Factories versus Fields

      Chinampas and 'Black water')

 

Growth?

urban city environs

1. Political Economy

i. Political economy: jobs = legitimacy

ii. Political power linked to resource control

iii. Patronage structures (Party and Profit)

 

2. Cities reinforce political control

1940's-1970 Consolidation

      Import Substitution

      Urbanization

3. Cities undercut political control

1970's-Present: ISI breakdown

      decentralization of power

Cars?

 

1. Auto sales key industrial sector

     Auto sales key to legitimacy

 

Roads and Gas

 

2. Mass Transit or autos?

i.            poor versus middle class

ii.         Gasoline Company, PEMEX, is state-owned, so

iii.     Mexican state earns $$ from fuel sales, and, has

iv.      PEMEX advocates operate within Mexican government

 

3. Environmental health limits

i. Less cars?

ii. Better emission controls?

iii. More expensive gas?

iv. Controls undercut legitimacy:

 

Environmental crisis inseparable from political crisis: despite change in government, political dynamic remains

 

Micro-Politics of Pollution

 

Micro Versus Macro Politics

Macro- the struggles over policy that are carried on in the Mexican Government: the issue is not, usually, any one instance of pollution or growth control, but the writing of laws and regulations that will affect myriad, disparate yet structurally similar pollution processes
(e.g., Environmental police/Auto subsidies)

Micro- Struggles over specific incidents of contamination, pollution or urban (or rural) development. These may have national, even international ramifications and involve transnational organizing, yet are constrained to a pollution instance rather than a class of instances.
(e.g., Gray Whale, plastic factory)

 

i. local application of regulation

The 'macro' policies are ultimately the responsibility of local officials who must enforce the laws on the books

regulations: e.g., housing types (industrial versus residential)

Inspection and regulations processes: police, protocols, bribes, courts

Social mobilization: citizen activism, official versus unofficial pressure

 

ii. Extraordinary events: Civic events and disasters beyond the parameters of pollution/growth issues affect the operation of pollution control laws

 

explosions: flying gas tank kills child in home
seven dead firefighters

 

iii. Local action and reaction in pollution control

v.          emplacement: illegal purchases

vi.       protest: citizen action, informal power politics

vii.    threats: intimidation

viii. inspection: the many police of Mexico

ix.       juicio: The court case

x.          displacement: removal of the plastic factory

xi.        

xii.