Metropolitan Transformation and Polycentric Structure in Mexico City. Identification of Urban Subcenters, 1989-2009

Adrian Guillermo Aguilar and Josefina Hernández Lozano Institute of Geography, UNAM IGU Urban Commission Meeting, 14-20 August 2011, Canterbury U.K.

Main Questions

:

 To what extent the metropolitan space of Mexico City presents a policentric structure spatial distribution of employment?

regarding the  What are the main changes urban subcenters in the on spatial patterns of period 1989-2009 ?

 What are the differences in the spatial dynamic by economic sectors ?

 What areas are winning or losing jobs and what factors seem to explain that situation?

I. Policentrism and Metropolitan Transformation

The spatial dynamic indicates a movement of activities from the city center to the periphery that tends to

“concentrated deconcentration”

form pattern .

a Urban subcenters articulating space function with a as nodes relevant employment density and concentration.

The the urban form of the new clusters change landscape: corridors, compact subcenters, dispersed activities areas, high rise buldings, etc.

 Agglomeration economies play bussiness activities that favour each other.

a fundamenal role. The benefits of being close to other activities creates a cluster of  A main difficulty is to define a threshold that indicates a significative number of jobs to constitute a subcenter.

 The traditional CBD normally is still very important.

This is activities that need valid particularly for “face to face” contact: financial, commercial, public administration.

II. Urban Expansion in Mexico City. Recent Trends

 A depopulation of the city center dominant tertiarization .

A with a revitalization around: new housing, corporate offices, tourism, commercial activities, etc.

 A deindustrialization of urban economy with manufacturing spreading towards peripheral locations.

 Peripheral expansion with high population growth rates, but low and very dispersed employment concentrations.

14,00

Figure 2. ZMCM: Employment Growth by Metropolitan Rings, 1989 2009

12,00 10,00 8,00 6,00 4,00 2,00 0,00 -2,00 -4,00

Central City First Second Metropolitan Rings Third Fourth

COMMERCE MANUFACTURING SERVICES POPULATION

Figure 1. ZMCM: Employment Growth by Metropolitan Rings, 1989-2009

700 000 600 000 500 000 400 000 300 000 200 000 100 000 0 -100 000 -200 000

CENTRAL CITY FIRST SECOND THIRD FOURTH

COMMERCE

Metropolitan Rings

SERVICES MANUFACTURING

III. Identification of Urban Subcenters  The Economic Census was used in the period 1989 2009; the spatial unit used was the basic geostatistical area (AGEB); data were processed for economic sectors and subsectors.

 To identify urban subcenters a was selected.

The AGEBs double threshold method classified as urban subcenters had to comply to the following criteria: - A concentration of employment superior to the city mean, plus a standard deviation.

The Central Business District

 In the period this area concentrated the highest number of subcenters and employment in the city (45%).

 The presence of services is outstanding in this zone. Employment on services predominates in 66% of the subcenters.

 Commercial activities show a slow growth; and manufacturing continues to move away from the central city.

The First Ring

 The first ring had a constant increase of employment, with 41% of all the employment of the identified subcenters.

 This ring concentration has the of employment in the city.

most important manufacturing  A marked dispersion trend of services employment to the south of the ring is relevant: Periferico Sur, Insurgentes Ave.

Santa Fe.

Santa Fe

The Second Ring

 Employment in the second ring also has an increasing trend, but only contains 10% of all jobs in the city.

 Manufacturing jobs predominate in number, and subcenters show stability in the north of the city.

 Service and commercial activities show a similar number but a slow concentration.

Tultitlán Vía Morelos

Plaza Chalco

500 000

Figure 4. Mexico City Subcenters: Employment Difference by Metropolitan Rings, 1989-2009

400 000 300 000 200 000 100 000 0 -100 000 -200 000

CENTRAL CITY FIRST SECOND THIRD SECTORS AND METROPOLITAN RINGS FOURTH

ZMCM: Main Subsectors in Subcenters, 2009 MANUFACTURING

325 Chemical Industry 311 326

TOTAL

Food Industry Plastic and Rubber Industry

SERVICES

561 Services Supporting Businesses 541 722

TOTAL

Professional, Scientific and Technical Services Services to Prepare Food Beverages

COMMERCE

462 463 Retail in Supermarkets and Departamental Stores Retail of Textiles, Jewellery, Clothes and Shoes Products 461

TOTAL

Retail of Groceries, Food, Beverage, Ice and Tobacco.

TOTAL %

68,650 17.46 57,335 14.58 33,580 8.54

393,230 40.58

TOTAL %

461,314 43.51 156,251 14.74 117,110 11.05

1,060,150 69.30

TOTAL %

64,187 14.05 58,055 12.71 48,351 10.58

456,865 37.34

Torre Mayor

Conclusions

 In the last 25 years there has been a gradual formation of urban subcenters with a “concentrated deconcentration” in compact subcenters and corridors.

 However this structure is highly restricted: it is relevant for the city center, 1st and 2nd rings. But in the 3rd and 4th rings the presence of these subcenters is almost unexistant.

 The central city is still the largest concentration of employment (46%) despite the loss of resident population.

 The central city shows a proliferation of subcenters leading to spatial widening of the concentration subcenters.

of activities with larger  The city experienced centrality a of employment displacement towards has the western and southern zones, with larger areas in each subcenter.

 The lack of important peripheral economic concentrations shows a lack of balance and equity in the distribution of jobs for the poorer neighborhoods to the northern and eastern areas.