Urban sprawl and the growing geographic scale of segregation in Mexico, 1990–2010

Abstract

Urbanization is linked to economic growth, and agglomeration economies mean that people in larger cities are more productive. However, urban expansion is also associated with congestion, localized environmental damage, and potentially, social segregation. In this paper we examine how urban expansion and changing urban spatial structure affects the level and scale of socioeconomic segregation of cities in Mexico. We measure different dimensions of urban spatial structure, and segregation by income and education at different geographic scales in 100 Mexican cities from 1990 to 2010. We then examine correlations between the two sets of variables, and run multivariate regressions to assess how changes in urban spatial structure relate to changes in the level and scale of segregation. Findings reveal that as cities expand, inhabitants experience greater levels of socioeconomic segregation, especially at a larger geographic scale. However, an increasing centralization of cities is associated with less segregation. This process works differently for segregation by education and income. For the former, less educated households are become more segregated in expanding, centralizing cities. For the latter, it is high-income households who are becoming more isolated. This study reveals provocative generalizations about the association between urban expansion and increasing segregation in Mexico. It suggests that movements into and out of central cities, rather than urban fragmentation or sprawl, shape how household mobility reorganizes social space.

What Do Divided Cities Have in Common? An International Comparison of Income Segregation

“…It might also be the case that Mexico has a different pattern of segregation with respect to other countries. Research on specific cities suggest that segregation, especially at the scale of the current analysis, is generally low among low and middle-income households and higher among high income groups (Aguilar & Mateos, 2011;Monkkonen, Comandon, Montejano Escamilla, & Guerra, 2018). This is consistent with the results discussed in the following paragraphs and suggests that Mexico has a different pattern of spatial clustering of households in space with respect to most countries analyzed here.…”

Segregation in the Twenty First Century: Processes, Complexities and Future Directions

“…Recent studies show that social segregation levels are generally on the rise in North American and European cities (Bischoff & Reardon ; Tammaru et al ; Monkkonen et al ). The growing separation between social groups is arguably linked to broader processes of urban (and suburban) transformation.…”

“…Adding to housing issues in Europe, there has been a long trend of diminishing or less accessible social housing (Scanlon et al ). Lastly, the manner in which segregation patterns are made and remade is dependent on local housing (re)development and planning (Tammaru et al ; Monkkonen et al ). In some cases local governments may use their powers to safeguard a level of social mix in new developments and redevelopments (Andersson et al ).…”

Mobility in urban events: walkability and accessibility in the Guelaguetza

“…Therefore, mobility is a considerable challenge for several cities as millions of persons need to travel long distances every day. Unlike other urban contexts, many cities in Mexico follow a relatively disperse settlement pattern (Monkkonen et al 2018). Sociocultural issues also become relevant as the predominant neoliberal economic model ideologically links the use of cars to social progress and therefore, walking is sometimes culturally related to poverty (Capron and Pérez López 2016;Koellner and Hidalgo 2018).…”