Evolution and Collapse of Ejidos in Mexico—To What Extent Is Communal Land Used for Urban Development?

Abstract

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.

Urban Shrinkage and Suburbanization in Mexico: A View Based on the Last Census Data

“…Urban shrinkage and suburbanization in Mexico are two sides of a land occupation model characterized by accelerated occupation, for the most part carried out under illegal practices (informal settlements) producing low densities and urban sprawl; recurring periods of instability or economic crisis that, in addition to affecting real estate dynamics, position the land as a form of investment for small and large amounts of capital, even of illicit origin, as a money laundering strategy; wide disparity (polarization) of economic income between social groups (segregation); multiplicity of agents that intervene formally and informally in the production of spaces (patrimonial norms); coexistence of different land ownership regimes (for example "los ejidos" in Mexico: the regime of communal lands), notably social or collective properties; the erratic and diminishing participation of the state in urban and social policies (lack of governability); little or no regulation of the authorities in the processes of occupation of space (Pérez & Mínguez, 2014). The Ejido system based on communal land in Mexico was partly transformed to private ownership due to neoliberal trends since the 1990s (Schumacher et al, 2019), giving more resources to the perpetration of this culture of ungoverned planning, where the free forces of the real estate market, which is made up of individuals seeking personal benefit, do not consider equilibrium in urban development.…”

“…According to Baños and Cardenas ( 2014), the Mexican federal system has a solid structure for urban planning based on articles 27, 73 and 115 of the Constitution of Mexico ( 1917), but it is not applied for three reasons: intergovernmental relations conditioned by Mexican federalism; lack of clarity regarding the competences and attributions of the different government orders in the matter of urban planning; and due to the social and political context, especially the municipality which prevents urban control and planning. As a result, urbanization processes are driven by the real estate market to the detriment of community and collective values, which among other effects manifests itself in the progressive deterioration and reduction of the system of communal land ownership, which in Mexico is referred to as the Ejidos system (Schumacher et al, 2019).…”

New Directions in Land Reform: An Editorial Overview

“…Post-apartheid South Africa undertook programmes of redistribution, tenure reform, and restitution of lands taken under racial laws, but a constitutional review since 2018 has been considering yet further radical measures-state custodianship of land accompanied by expropriation without compensation [13]. In neighbouring Zimbabwe, land reform away from large-scale white-owned to small-scale African farms has resulted in black farmworkers being targeted more than white farmers [14,15]. In Scotland, the abolition of feudal tenure led to further reform proposals for access to farmland and rent reviews of agricultural tenancies.…”

The Incremental Demise of Urban Green Spaces

“…How space and property rights are arranged to ensure access to urban nature will be of direct importance for building general urban resilience to human wellbeing in the long-term [14]. The gradual shift towards privatization of public property in cities, and even of common property systems [60,61] is a worrisome sign since it may negatively affect resilience planning, which needs to be long-term oriented. Property-rights could be viewed as slow variables in urban transformation.…”