Impacts of Transportation Changes on the Woodworking Industry of Mexico's Purépecha Region

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The PurÉpecha region of Michoacán State, in west‐central Mexico, has a strong tradition of craft production, especially wooden items. Transportation improvements in the region since the mid‐twentieth century have led to a higher level of integration of the regional economy, yet access to the broader Mexican market remains limited. Towns throughout the region have experienced substantial changes in the types of crafts produced, the extent of their local and external markets, and the location of craft production. Transportation improvements have, in part, led to agglomeration economies and a resultant contraction in the number of different types and an increase in the volume of the crafts produced. Market changes have led to the proliferation of craft storefronts in towns with higher levels of accessibility. Conversely, remote towns still rely heavily on distributors and have not been able to expand their markets. As a result, the region has seen the development of a two‐tiered system whereby towns with increased accessibility have viable craft industries and towns with limited accessibility struggle with stagnant craft industries.

Changes in accessibility in the Meseta Purépecha region of Michoacán, Mexico: 1940–2000

“…The old market centers have been replaced by new ones located primarily in those regions of highest accessibility. For example, the small town of Capácuaro north of Uruapan along MX-37 has emerged as an important market for craft furniture sales and many of the furniture makers from the mountain towns sell their products here (Marr and Sutton, 2005). The increase in accessibility of the area east of Lake Pátzcuaro was in all likelihood spurred by the growing importance of Pátzcuaro both as an administrative and market center.…”

“…The new roads around Lake Pátzcuaro helped to better connect the lake area internally, while the loss of connections between the lake and the meseta has led to the lake and meseta becoming more isolated from one another. Pátzcu-aro has become increasingly more important as a market center for crafts produced and sold regionally (Marr and Sutton, 2005;Harner, 2002), as well as a center for the region's growing tourism industry. The area west of Paracho saw increased connectivity due to the construction of the road linking Pomacuarán to MX-37.…”

El espejo en que nos vemos juntos: la antropología y el diseño en la creación de un video mapping arquitectónico con una comunidad purépecha de México

“…9. Sobre la deforestación en comunidades purépecha, veánse Works y Hadley (2003); Marr y Sutton (2004). 10.…”

Transportation geography: local challenges, global contexts

“…Accessibility challenges, especially to health and welfare services (Arcury et al, 2005;Cawley and Nguyen, 2008), are intimately related to issues of rural social justice (Farrington and Farrington, 2005) and social exclusion (McDonagh, 2006). Rural commuting patterns in sparsely populated areas also have important quality of life implications (Sandow, 2008), as Marr and Sutton (2004) demonstrated in their analysis of transportation change impacts on the woodworking industry of Mexico's Purépecha region. Porter (2002) conducted fi eld research on mobility in rural settlements with inadequate transport to illustrate the social tensions and high costs of living without good accessibility and mobility.…”