PART III PROJECTS
8 ‘ECO-DEVELOPMENT’ STRATEGIES 8.1 ECO-CITIES
8.1.6 ECO-LINEAR CITY: LOS CABOS, BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR, MEXICO
Los Cabos located on the southern coast of the Mexican peninsula of Baja California is one of the richest ecosystem of the planet, particularly the Mar de Cortes, with its nine hundred islands and unique submarine fauna and flora. Not surprisingly, it has become one of the most desirable tourist destination of the world. The favourable climatic conditions and outstanding landscapes, together with the vast tourist market of the United States have turned Los Cabos into a luxury tourist destination w hich h as a ttracted Me xicans i n search of work in a buoyant local economy.
Location of Los Cabos
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As a consequence the towns of San Lucas and San Jose on either end started to sprawl and the coastline was f illing up with intense high end tourism development, forming an almost continuous built up waterfront of hotels, condominiums, detached houses, golf courses and marinas. The developed coastline isolated the underdeveloped hinterland leaving it with insufficient infrastructure. Im migrant w orkers we re u nable t o f ind affordable accommodation and ended up living in precarious conditions in informal settlements up the hills above the t wo cities. This created social segregation and risked to undermine the tourist trade of Los Cabos.