The Cultural Dimensions of Urban Fragmentation

Abstract

In the past few decades, Mexico City has experienced the continuity of traditional patterns of urbanization and the emergence of new urban processes after globalization and neoliberal reforms. The result of this confluence of persistent and emerging trends is not wholly transparent, and the social and urban fragmentation of the city is under debate. Structural trends are not enough to understand these processes; sociocultural dimensions should also be addressed. The experience of the city and the patterns of sociability in the privileged and disadvantaged classes are characterized by contrasting urban lifestyles, as well as social homogeneity, reciprocal isolation and closure, mutual indifference, stigmatization, and fear. The scale of urban segregation is decreasing; the rich and the poor may live physically closer, but the spaces for interaction and encounter are becoming increasingly homogeneous and distant in social terms. These sociocultural dimensions shed light on a new Latin American geography of urban inequality that undermines social cohesion and the experience of citizenship. En las ultimas décadas la Ciudad de México ha experimentado tanto la continuación de su patrón tradicional de urbanización como la aparición de nuevos procesos urbanos como consecuencia de la globalización y las reformas neoliberales. El resultado de esta confluencia de corrientes persistentes y emergentes no es del todo transparente, y se debate la fragmentación social y urbana de la ciudad. No basta con examinar tendencias estructurales, también se tiene que dirigir atención a las dimensiones socioculturales. La experiencia de la ciudad y el patrón de sociabilidad dentro de las clases privilegiadas y desventajadas se contrastan por sus formas de vida urbana, como por su respectiva homogeneidad social, su aislamiento reciproco y cierre, su indiferencia mutua, su estigmatización, y sus temores. Se va disminuyendo la escala de la segregación; los ricos y pobres pueden vivir mas cercanos físicamente, pero los espacios para la interacción y encuentro se tornan cada vez mas homogéneos y distantes en términos sociales. Estas dimensiones socioculturales iluminan una nueva geografía latinoamericana de desigualdad urbana que mina la cohesión social y la experiencia de la ciudadanía.

Snapshot of the Use of Urban Green Spaces in Mexico City during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study

“…In contrast, the southeast region, home to the most marginalized segments of the population, has the lowest level of green area availability. Most neighborhoods in this area lack access to UGS within the recommended walking distance of 15 to 20 min [ 29 , 30 ]. With mobility restrictions in place, lack of access posed an additional barrier to UGS use.…”

Evaluating the association between urban green spaces and subjective well-being in Mexico city during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Beginning in the 1990s, the city adopted a privatization approach to developing and managing public spaces, including UGS, furthering social fragmentation and segregation patterns ( Bayón and Saraví, 2012 ). From that point on, the modernization of UGS has been selective, prioritizing the most profitable projects and contributing to an increase in land and housing prices ( Delgadillo, 2016 ).…”

A policy framework for social sustainability: Social cohesion, equity and safety

“…To a partial extent, social inequity helps us understand environmental inequity (Pellow, 2000), and therefore we cannot ignore inequity by looking solely at poverty and basic needs, or by reflecting on whether growth can reduce poverty via the trickledown effect. Inequity can also have a negative impact on social cohesion and engender social fragmentation, which then impinges on urbanization (Bayón & Saravi, 2013;Lowery, 1999), social violence (Allen, Bethell, & Allen-Carroll, 2017;Burns, 2009), and health (Coburn, 2000;Khawaja, Abdulrahim, Soweid, & Karam, 2006), and all these impacts are interconnected (Cruse, 2010). Moreover, equity necessitates participation.…”