ANNEX 6: MEXICO CITY CASE STUDY
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and until the 1990s the physical expansion (urban sprawl) formed a continuous urbanized area with gross population density decreasing over time, and spatially increasing with distance from the historical city center. Since 1990 growth has been characterized by leapfrog expansion, and urban spatial continuity was broken. Current land use now bears limited contiguity to previously urbanized areas. For example, in 2000 the neighboring municipalities located in the State of Mexico represented 52 percent of the population and grew at an annual rate of 2.4 percent on average, while the 16 boroughs of Mexico City had a population growth rate of 0.3 percent annually. The MCMA is characterized by seismic risk and with no natural drainage for runoff from the surrounding mountains; it is also vulnerable to flooding, particularly in the western part. The metropolitan area is affected by severe storms, heat waves, and droughts. The size of the population in the MCMA complicates the possible impacts of these events, as the infrastructure and public services are stretched thin. As a national economic engine, Mexico City’s geophysical characteristics and presence of risk of multiple natural hazards underscores the need for the city to implement activities and programs that will increase its physical and social resilience. To take a recent example, the economic impact of the 2009 A (H1N1) influenza epidemic amounted to 0.4 percent of GDP (40 billion pesos).
Figure A6.2 Urban Expansion of Mexico City Metropolitan Areas, 1950–2005
Legend 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2005