Women are an underappreciated economic force who, when empowered by association with a female organization, can be a catalyst for development. To assess the status of Indigenous rural women, as well as the mechanisms and impacts of their empowerment, this paper presents a case study of a community development approach based on the Masehual Siuamej Mosenyolchicacauani organization in Cuetzalan del Progreso, Puebla. The methodology used is a mixed-methods approach involving a literature review of two regional instruments: The Federal Program “Pueblos Mágicos” and the Land and Environmental Management Program “POET” for Cuetzalan. It also includes geo-data collection from public sources, empirical data collection from open-ended interviews, and focus group discussions with key informants from the Indigenous organization. The research found that, despite an inclusive legal and institutional framework, weak policy implementation and certain federal programs tend to segregate Indigenous communities. Mechanisms such as cultural tourism and inclusive land management programs, capacity building initiatives, and female associations have proven useful for empowering women and have had positive socioeconomic impacts on the community. The research concluded that female Indigenous associations are a tool to empower rural women, grant them tenure security, strengthen their engagement in decision making, and consolidate them as key stakeholders in community development.

The ejido system, based on communal land in Mexico, was transformed to private ownership due to neoliberal trends in the 1990s. Based on the theory of stakeholders being agents of change, this study aimed to describe the land policies that changed the ejido system into private development to show how land tenure change is shaping urban growth. To demonstrate this, municipalities of San Andrés Cholula and Santa Clara Ocoyucan were selected as case studies. Within this context, we evaluated how much ejido land is being urbanized due to real estate market forces and what type of urbanization model has been created. These two areas represent different development scales with different stakeholders—San Andrés Cholula, where ejidos were expropriated as part of a regional urban development plan and Santa Clara Ocoyucan, where ejidos and rural land were reached by private developers without local planning. To analyze both municipalities, historical satellite images from Google Earth were used with GRASS GIS 7.4 (Bonn, Germany) and corrected with QGIS 2.18 (Boston, MA, US). We found that privatization of ejidos fragmented and segregated the rural world for the construction of massive gated communities as an effect of a disturbing land tenure change that has occurred over the last 30 years. Hence, this research questions the roles of local authorities in permitting land use changes with no regulations or local planning. The resulting urbanization model is a private sector development that isolates rural communities in their own territories, for which we provide recommendations.

Abstract. Dinuclear nickel(II) complex, [Ni 2 {O 2 CC(CH 3 ) 3 } 4 (OH 2 ){HO 2 CC(CH 3 ) 3 } 4 ] (1), was synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR and UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy, and temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibilities (4.5-300 K). Single-crystal X-ray crystallography revealed a dinuclear core with μ-aqua and di-μ-pivalato bridges having monodentate pivalato and monodentate pivalic acid molecules. Magnetic data analysis showed a ferromagnetic interactions between the two nickel atoms with g = 2.251, J = 2.78 cm , and tip = 176 x 10 -6 cm 3 mol -1.

La Ciudad de Cholula representa un ejemplo icónico del desarrollo periurbano en México de ciudades medias inmersas en un entorno metropolitano. La particular heterogeneidad de Cholula como región sagrada, estudiantil y de servicios, se ha ido conformando a través de tres tipos de modelo socio-territorial: el compacto, el rural y el metropolitano; estos modelos se integran a través de diferentes patrones de uso de suelo. La transformación urbana de Cholula se originó en territorio ejidal, donde su expropiación en la década de 1990 y la implementación del Programa de Desarrollo Regional Angelópolis generaron diversos detonadores peri-urbanos, como cambios en las dinámicas poblacionales, especulación inmobiliaria, dispersión de localidades, abandono de las actividades agrícolas y consumo desmedido del territorio. Estos detonadores generaron cambios en los patrones de uso de suelo que van desde los núcleos urbanos compactos hasta las localidades rurales dispersas a las nuevas centralidades urbanas. The City of Cholula represents an iconic example of peri-urban development in Mexican middle-size cities. Cholula has a particular heterogeneity as a sacred, student, and services region. Its context is being developed through three socio-spatial models: the compact, the rural, and the metropolitan; each integrated with patterns of land use. The urban transformation of Cholula began in 1990 with the expropriation of ejido and agricultural land and the implementation of the Regional Development Plan Angelópolis. All of these triggered peri-urbanization development, like changes in populations’ dynamics, real estate speculation, urban sprawl, abandon of agricultural activities, and a wasteful consumption of land. These facts generated changes in the patterns of land use, from compact-urban cores, sprawl rural localities, to new urban centralities.

This chapter presents the role urban literacy has played in the stakeholder engagement and gender equity efforts introduced to strengthen land governance in San Andrés Cholula's periurban communities. The chapter uses focus group discussion (FGD) from eight urban literacy workshops in five peri-urban communities of San Andrés Cholula. These FGDs were conducted during a period of 3 months (i.e. July to September 2019). The chapter is structured as follows. It starts with historical review of Cholula's sociopolitical office system and a critical evaluation of MPSUD based on the principles of good governance. Then follows a discussion of the process of the urban literacy workshops. This is then followed by a discussion of the role of women in strengthening land governance through urban literacy based on the outcomes of the workshops. Finally, the chapter concludes with emphasis on how urban literacy is a veritable strategy for strengthening land governance and for enabling inclusive participation in policy making.