Mexico City´s boroughs: not yet local governments

Abstract

The present article analyzes recent decentralization and recentralization processes in some countries and the trends observed in Mexico, where Mexico City, the national capital, was recently recognized as a federal state, and after 90 years without municipal governments, the city's territorial divisions were established as boroughs. In this context, the powers of the Mexican municipalities are compared with those of the boroughs (formerly called delegations) to determine the requisites that they still lack to be a true local government with full political, fiscal, and administrative powers. The new government shall demonstrate its decentralizing vocation.

COLLECTIVELY GARDENING THE URBAN PUBLIC SPACE IN MEXICO CITY: When Informal Practices Interact with the State

“…In fact, Mexico City's governance model has been characterized historically by somewhat incapacitating tensions between the centralization and decentralization logics inherent to the distribution of power and resources between the delegaciones and the government of the Federal District (Distrito Federal, D.F.). These tensions did not disappear with the highly criticized political reform (Ugalde, 2019) of the status of the city and adoption of the new city constitution in 2016-17 (Méndez Bahena and Salguero, 2019). In fact, coupled with new institutional uncertainties about the division of power, service delivery roles and resources between alcaldías and the city government, they remain fundamental in defining Mexico City's complex institutional environment today.…”