Poverty in Peripheral Informal Settlements in Mexico City: the Case of Magdalena Contreras, Federal District

POVERTY IN PERIPHERAL INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS IN MEXICO CITY: THE CASE OF MAGDALENA CONTRERAS, FEDERAL DISTRICT

ADRIÁN G. AGUILAR & FLOR LÓPEZ GUERRERO Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Institute of Geography, Circuito Exterior, CU04510, DF., Mexico. E-mails: [email protected]; fﬂ[email protected]

Received: October 2011; accepted November 2012

ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to discuss the relationship between the difﬁcult economic situation in Mexico over recent years and the increasing disadvantages in irregular settlements that are found on the periphery of the Federal District. The focus is on informal settlements in the Magdalena Contreras Delegation, a peripheral municipality where the research team applied 719 questionnaires to the inhabitants. The results offer an up-to-date socio-economic analysis of the population. We are also in a position to suggest answers to the following questions: to what extent communal lands with a high ecological value act as territorial reserves for irregular settlements?; how do poverty levels in these settlements affect the consolidation process in terms of housing quality and access to public services?; how much heterogeneity is there inside irregular settlements and what is the level of poverty in these settlements and how grave is the situation?

Key words: Informal settlements, urban poverty, precarious conditions, Mexico City, peri-urbanisation

THE URBANISATION PROCESS AND and inequality. In this paper, we want to under- INFORMAL HUMAN SETTLEMENTS line three issues related to informal human settlements (IHS): The limited capacity of the urban economy in 1. The failure of urban policies to meet the the cities of many developing countries has needs of HIS: the persistence of informal failed to satisfactorily meet the challenge of cre- human settlements is also the result of ating jobs and providing housing and services to the failure of local government housing all new urban inhabitants. In the face of such policy, urban planning regulations and shortcomings, a large proportion of the poor the lack of supply systems for urban ser- have to resort to the informal sector to secure vices that are geared to meeting basic employment. Moreover, many of the poor ﬁnd needs. (McGranahan et al. 2008; Smolka & themselves obliged to obtain a plot of land ille- Larangeira 2008; Winchester 2008). In gally in order to build their home in informal other words, there has been a lack of politi- human settlements (Calderon Cockburn 2006; cal will to mitigate this problem in a compre- McGranahan et al. 2008; Smolka & Larangeira hensive fashion and on a large scale, and to 2008). The growth of these settlements is a attack the structural causes of illegality, serious issue in the face of increasing urbanisa- social insecurity, and the environmental tion and the prevailing conditions of poverty degradation associated with these settle-

Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geograﬁe – 2013, DOI:10.1111/tesg.12012, Vol. 104, No. 3, pp. 359–378. © 2013 The Authors Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geograﬁe © 2013 Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG 360 ADRIÁN G. AGUILAR & FLOR LÓPEZ GUERRERO

ments. These factors point to a failure of ILLEGAL LAND OCCUPATION AND conventional approaches to improving IHS. ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN 2. The peripheralisation of informality: low MEXICO CITY incomes among the poor have contributed to socio-spatial segregation within the urban Mexico City is the country’s capital city and its area. In Latin America, the effect of this largest metropolis. Mexico’s 2010 Population tendency has been to relegate low-income Census recorded an official total of 20.1 million sectors to peripheral zones where land costs inhabitants in the Mexico City Metropolitan are lower. This, in turn, exacerbates the Zone.2 Between 2000 and 2010, the average segregation of the poorest social strata annual population growth rate for the entire (Winchester 2008; see also Sabatini et al. city was 0.9 per cent. Nevertheless, when this 2001; Rodríguez and Arriagada 2004; average is analysed from a territorial, central Janoschka 2005; Ariza & Solís 2009). The city/periphery perspective, the results show tendency towards the peripheralisation of that demographic growth has been somewhat poverty and informality in large cities unequal. Whereas in the central zones of the favours the existence of IHS because land is city the rate of growth was much slower than the cheap because it lacks proper infrastructure average, and even negative, some peripheral and is located far from the central city. The municipalities that have recently been settled IHS in peri-urban areas have become a by the poor have population growth rates as prevalent and visible manifestation of urban three to five times higher than the average for poverty. the city as a whole (Aguilar 2008). 3. The multidimensional nature of intense dis- Gradually, the number of IHS on Mexico advantages in IHSs: these settlements pose a City’s periphery has multiplied because of a multidimensional problem where the accu- lack of cheap housing alternatives for the poor mulation of disadvantages in each area has in more central areas, and also because of the specific characteristics, and can aggravate availability of very inexpensive land which lacks the levels of poverty in the population. even minimal services. Settlements of this type Among the different disadvantages that can have been cropping up in the urban area since be identified in IHS the following six are the second half of the twentieth century. prevalent:1 (i) lack of basic services; (ii) During this time there has been a lack of poli- poor-quality housing; (iii) overcrowding; cies for addressing the housing needs of the (iv) unhealthy and hazardous living condi- urban poor and this process has been steadily tions; (v) insecurity of land tenure; and, (vi) continuing. This issue has been addressed in poverty and social exclusion. In the worst different studies published in recent decades cases, all of these features can be found in (see Iracheta 1984; Aguilar 1987; Pezzoli 1998; one informal settlement. The absence Ward 1998; Varley 2006). and/or presence of these variables give The local government has found it necessary rise to a high degree of heterogeneity in to adopt a position of tolerance in the face of living conditions in these IHS, and here irregular urbanisation that has involved both we are referring both to intra- and private land, ejido and communal lands.3 Subse- inter-heterogeneity. quently, and as a reaction to the persistence of IHS, the local government has had to resort to Thus, the main interest of this paper is to land tenure regularisation as an ex post solution demonstrate that the recent severe economic to the problem. The main effect of legalisation situation in Mexico City over the last two has been to provide an incentive to the poor to decades has affected the living conditions of occupy more of this type of land, leading to an the poor and therefore the possibility of con- increase in the number of informal settlements solidating the construction of their houses; (see Tomas 1997; Azuela 1997; Duhau 1998; additionally there has been a marked accumu- Ward 1998). lation of disadvantages related to social Recent economic tendencies in Mexico services that maintain settlers in extreme indicate that worker’s wages, both in the formal poverty levels. and informal sectors, have deteriorated signifi-

Table 1. Mexico: level of poverty in the metropolitan areas.

Level of Poverty, 2008–2010

Types of Poverty EVALUA a 2008 EVALUA 2010

Population % Population % 1. Absolute Poverty 6,634,156 15.10 8,167,525 18.03 2. Intense Poverty 8,125,183 18.49 9,577,303 21.14 3. Extreme Poverty 14,759,339 33.59 17,744,828 39.18 4. Moderate Poverty 16,340,544 37.19 16,157,753 35.67 5. No-absolute Poverty 24,465,727 55.69 25,735,056 56.82 6. Total Poverty 31,099,883 70.79 33,902,581 74.85 Total population 43,934,226 100.00 45,295,527 100.00

Types of Poverty CONEVAL b 2008 CONEVAL 2010

Food Poverty 7,386,444 10.76 8,873,963 12.59 Capacities Poverty 11,972,004 17.44 14,089,457 19.99 Patrimony Poverty 27,548,420 40.14 32,088,922 45.53

Notes : a EVALUA: Refers to the Evaluation Council for Social Development of the Federal District Calculated for Metropolitan Areas: cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, excluding the Federal District b CONEVAL: Corresponds to the National Council for Evaluation of the Social Development Policy Calcu- lated for Urban Areas: towns with more than 15,000 inhabitants. Sources : http://www.evalua.df.gob.mx/ http://www.coneval.gob.mx/cmsconeval/rw/pages/medicion/Pobreza_2010/Anexo_estadistico.es.do cantly. In addition, the distribution of wages number of working hours per worker; a reduc- has become more unequal and returned to the tion in consumption and modification of con- levels registered for the 1970s. This is a result of sumption patterns; and the intensification of the processes of neoliberal economic restruc- the use of social networks (Gonzalez de la turing that have been present since the second Rocha et al. 2004). half of the 1980s, the reduction of the public The different credits that are available for system of social protection, and the multiplica- obtaining a ‘social interest’ home are generally tion of precarious and informal ways of enter- not accessible to the urban poor as loan ing the labour market (Portes & Hoffman 2003; requirements include formal employment. Gonzalez de la Rocha et al. 2004). Even where the poor have a formal sector wage, One consequence of these tendencies is for it is too low to qualify for a loan for housing. To an increase in the number of families below the some extent, the option of self-construction of poverty line in Mexico City. Table 1 compares a home on a plot acquired on the irregular land the levels of poverty in the metropolitan zone market represents the ‘natural’ alternative between 2005 and 2008. It shows significant (Duhau and Giglia 2008). However, for the increases in poverty and particularly in the population that lives in the irregular settle- poorest strata, which includes absolute and ments, the probable effect of adverse circum- extreme poverty. Given the widespread low stances is the worsening of generalised wages and the scarcity of public benefits, poor precarious conditions to the point where they urban families have had to develop diverse sur- become chronic, but end up being considered vival mechanisms since the economic crisis of ‘normal’. Taking these factors into account the 1990s. These strategies include some of the Connolly (2009) suggests that additional build- following: more family members are incorpo- ing and the densification of existing settle- rated into the labour market; an increase in the ments has been occurring in the existing

© 2013 The Authors Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie © 2013 Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG 362 ADRIÁN G. AGUILAR & FLOR LÓPEZ GUERRERO settlements. It is possible that the new irregular tion as most of these lands are considered settlements have much smaller land plot sizes unsuitable for urban development because (from 70–120 M2) than previous generations of they form part of the land reserve for the main- irregular urbanisation. Connolly shows that tenance of the environmental equilibrium of recently the irregular settlements have become the city (Wigle 2010b). not only receptors for the poorest groups, but also for middle class families that are unable to INFORMAL HUMAN SETTLEMENTS IN acquire a house in the formal sector (Connolly THE MAGDALENA CONTRERAS 2009).4 DELEGATION OF THE It is interesting to note that the intense FEDERAL DISTRICT urbanisation in the delegations in the south of the Federal District is mainly due to processes Magdalena Contreras is one of the 16 delega- associated to the development of popular tions (municipalities) that comprise the neighbourhoods and irregular settlements. Federal District. Located in the southern part Natural increase and new household formation of Mexico City, it registered a total of 239,086 in pueblos in the conservation land also contrib- inhabitants in 2010. Due to a failure to enforce ute to the expansion of settlements areas. Some current land-use zoning regulations, IHS have of the irregular settlements are definitely in arisen in areas unsuited for urbanisation and worse locations than others in terms of access to this has contributed to environmental degrada- amenities, the risk of flooding and mud slides, tion (see Figure 1). Magdalena Contreras has and for their distance from basic services. The areas of high ecological value, such as valleys, heterogeneous nature of irregular develop- rivers and forested zones which, on the whole, ments is reflected in the wide range of housing are located on the CL. These lands account for conditions in just one neighbourhood. 80 per cent of the land surface in the delega- In the Federal District, ejido and communal tion, while the rest is urban land. It is estimated land is concentrated on conservation land that the land area covered by IHS on conserva- (abbreviated here to CL, which apart from its tion land is 342.13 hectares, representing 19 legal status is land of high ecological value). per cent of this delegation’s land area and con- Conservation land is a category that has been centrating 32,483 inhabitants in 7,297 dwell- established in urban legislation for land-use ings (Gobierno del Distrito Federal 2005). planning in the city to restrict urban land uses The Eslava and Magdalena rivers run in view of the natural features of its ecosystems.5 through the delegation Magdalena Contreras, PGOEDF (2003) estimated that communal and they are considered the only live rivers in land represented 62 per cent of the total land the Federal District. Further upstream they are area of the city, while ejido land only repre- used as water supply sources. The ecosystems in sented 14 per cent. The rest of the land was this watershed facilitate the replenishment of private property.6 The usual method for occu- these rivers but, unfortunately, the slopes of the pying ejido or communal land is by purchasing a mountainous area in the delegation have been piece of land from a supposed owner who has invaded by IHS, even though these hills are not complied with all the legal procedures for considered to be hazardous zones (see Arroyo selling it.7 There was an increase in the use of Flores 2005; Iniestra Bárcenas 2006). ejido and communal lands for urban expansion The Magdalena Contreras Delegation has from 1990 onwards. Of the total urbanised land ejido and communal lands within its bound- in the Mexico City metropolitan zone in the aries.8 After the 1917 Agrarian Reform four period 1990 to 2000, 42.7 per cent is on pri- ejido zones were established: San Bernabé vately owned land, 49.7 per cent on ejido and Ocotepec, San Jerónimo Aculco, Magdalena communal land. This means that the legal Contreras Atlitic, and San Nicolás Totolapan, norms for the liberalisation of the release of all created by the 1920s.9 Two communal land ejidal land (established in 1992) have led to an zones were also created: the Community of increase in the incorporation of land with this San Bernabé Ocotepec and the Community of type of tenancy to the urban area (Cruz, 2011: Magdalena Contreras. Most of these communal 73). This can only be regarded as a contradic- lands are on CL, but significant areas in these

Figure 1. Mexico City’s metropolitan zone: location of the Magdalena Contreras Delegation. zones were already occupied by informal settle- frequently, and most of these lands are unsuit- ments (see Cuadros Betancourt 2001). able for agriculture but others are forested The IHS in this delegation have arisen as a areas. result of the direct sale of lots by the zone’s ejido In the 1970s, IHS began to occupy flat ejido and communal land owners, who divide their zones, but in the past two decades, urban occu- land into lots and sell them in exchange for pation has extended to the conservation land. varying amounts of money. The first IHS in the These IHS have been established on hazardous delegation were established on ejido lands in sites on the slopes of mountainous zones and in the early 1970s through the illegal sale of lots forested areas that have a high ecological value and, with that, ejido areas virtually disappeared (see Cuadros Betancourt 2001). Obviously, the in Magdalena Contreras. The first case of IHS sale of ejido and communal lands in the peri- regularisation on this type of land took place in urban zone can be attributed to various inter- the late 1980s; up to that time, IHS had not related factors: the strong housing demand cropped up on communal lands.10 For the most among the urban poor; low profitability of agri- part, the poorest groups occupy the lands on culture and rearing livestock in areas subject to the steepest slopes and even on the edges of extreme pressure by urban real-estate interests; ravines, where landslides and rock-falls occur the increasingly greater inclusion of ejido and

Figure 2. Location of irregular settlements in the Magdalena Contreras Delegation. communal land owners in manufacturing and that have been conducted on the population service sector activities; and expectations of living in informal settlements in Mexico City obtaining additional income through the sale (see Gilbert & Ward 1985; Schteingart & Torres of this type of land. 1997; Torres 1997; Duhau 1998; Wigle 2010a). In all, 719 surveys were applied in ten infor- POVERTY IN THE INFORMAL mal settlements (see Table 2). The intention SETTLEMENTS OF THE MAGDALENA was to apply the questionnaires in all the dwell- CONTRERAS DELEGATION: RESULTS ings that form part of these settlements. OF QUESTIONNAIRES Although all the homes were visited, there was nobody available to take part in the survey in a In this section, we will present the most signifi- significant proportion of cases. However, the cant findings of a survey taken in mid-2010 in results that were gained are highly representa- several informal settlements located on conser- tive of the total population: more than half of vation land in the Magdalena Contreras Del- the homes were interviewed in the overwhelm- egation (see Figure 2). The purpose of the ing majority of settlements, and in one case survey was to collect up-to-date information on (Totolapan) 80 per cent of the homes were poverty among the population living in these included in the survey. Only in the Chichicaspa settlements, and the housing consolidation settlement did representation fall to slightly process. Unfortunately, the local government more than a third of the households, at 36 per does not have current data on the population cent of the total. The questionnaires were living in these areas, and even when informa- applied by university trained students in July– tion is available it is very rudimentary and out- August 2010 in weekdays and Saturdays during dated. Our analysis contributes to other data mornings (from 9am–3pm).11 The interviewers collection efforts and the application of surveys always asked for the head of the family or their

© 2013 The Authors Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geograﬁe © 2013 Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG OET NIFRA ETEET NMXC CITY MEXICO IN SETTLEMENTS INFORMAL IN POVERTY idcrf orEooicee oil egae©21 oa uc egahclSceyKNAG Society Geographical Dutch Royal 2013 © Geograﬁe Sociale en Economische voor Tijdschrift Table 2. Magdalena Contreras: irregular settlements – topography and number of surveys carried out.

Settlement Area of Type of relief Risks and dangers No. of Total settlement (hectares) surveys housesa %

Cazulco 0.91 Flat ground 24 75.00 Chichicaspa 1.14 Flat ground, but inaccessible High risk of flooding 15 93.33 Rincón, El 1.33 Flat ground High risk of flooding 33 30.30 Ixtlahualtongo 1.71 Steep slopes High risk of flooding 152 81.58 Ocotenco No data Flat ground 11 90.91 Sayula 11.97 Steep slopes Landslides 158 84.18 Surco de Encinos 2.13 Moderate to pronounced slope Landslides 69 81.16 Tecutlapalpan 0.79 High ground/flat and inaccessible Landslides 93 86.02 Tierra Colorada 0.46 Steep slopes Landslides 117 77.78 Totolapan 0.5 Flat, low lying ground High risk of flooding 46 100.00 Total 20.94 718 83.70

Note: aPercentage of houses that were surveyed of the total in each settlement. Source : Inventory of Irregular Settlements, 2008 Environment Secretariat for the Federal District (Inventario de Asentamientos Irregulares de 2008) Secretaría del Medio Ambiente del Gobierno del Distrito Federal www.sma.df.gob.mx/areasnaturales 03TeAuthors The 2013 © 365 366 ADRIÁN G. AGUILAR & FLOR LÓPEZ GUERRERO direct relations. No inhabitants were found in middle and downstream sections. All this leads of 470 houses in the 10 settlements, which is a to bad odours and the deterioration of the large number. There are two main reasons for ecosystem. The inhabitants of these IHS are this: first, the people who live there leave their extremely disaster-prone because their homes homes early in the morning to go to work or are located on unstable slopes that absorb a school, etc., and return only at the end of the great deal of water in the rainy season, causing day; and second, it is well-known that in these landslides and, consequently, the collapse of IHS, a high proportion of the lots are acquired homes (see La Jornada 2009a, 2009b). by people who do not live there but in another The extension of each settlement varies from part of the city. The owners frequently visit half a hectare to a little more than eleven hect- their property once a week only in order to ares, making a total area of irregular land occu- ensure their possession of it. In general, these pation of almost 21 hectares. A total of 88 per are people who, strictly speaking, do not need cent of the lots have surface areas measuring the land, with or without a house built on it, to less than 100 square metres, whereas only 12 solve their housing problems but have pur- per cent have areas ranging from 101 to 200 chased it speculatively, waiting for it to be regu- square metres. So we can say that, on the whole, larised so as to benefit later on from the the lot size is relatively small. In the majority of increase in value. This is because land with a cases there are pronounced slopes in areas with legal title is worth more than land without one. high risk of flooding and mud slides (see We estimate that nobody lives on a regular basis Table 2). Most of the inhabitants lived previ- in half the total lots. This represents one-fifth of ously in the same delegation (60%) or in an the total dwellings in the ten settlements. adjacent one (33%), in a colonia (neighbour- Thequestionnairecomprisedofninesections hood) close to the informal settlements, for regardingthesocio-economicandhousingchar- example, neighbourhoods such as San Nicolás, acteristics of the population. After the results San Bernabé and Tierra Colorada. In the had been computerised, they were processed neighbourhood where they lived before, a large with the Statistical Package for the Social Sci- majority of the irregular settlers rented a dwell- ences (SPSS; IBM: Armonck, NY). Some of the ing (46%), or lived with relatives (35%) before most significant features included in the survey they moved, and this shows their desire to have are discussed below. a low-cost home of their own. There are three main aspects of the surveys Therefore, the settlers had direct knowledge that require our attention: (1) the emergence of the illegal process of urban occupation in of these settlements on Conservation Land; this zone and of the tolerance towards it by the (2) the quality of housing and the process of local government. This proves that, over recent consolidation of the settlements; and (3) the years, conservation land has functioned as a level of poverty in the homes in the irregular territorial reserve for irregular settlements in settlements. the Federal District. The majority of the settlements were established more than 15 years ago, IRREGULAR HUMAN SETTLEMENTS and this shows the evident complicity of the ON CONSERVATION LAND IN THE local government in allowing the occupation of FEDERAL DISTRICT these lands of high ecological value. It also shows the lack of definition with respect to the The predominant spatial form that gives rise to legal tenancy of the land where these settle- irregular settlements are the hillsides that are a ments are found. topographical feature of the Federal District. The slopes are steep and are highly precarious HOUSING QUALITY AND THE places for housing. Dwellings have been built CONSOLIDATION PROCESS on eroded slopes, where all kinds of illegal dumps have been created for solid and liquid The quality of housing in the irregular settle- waste. The sewage and garbage runs down the ments varies widely because it is related to the ravines and blocks the rivers and turns them quality of the materials used for the construc- into veritable open-channel drains in their tion of roofs, floors and walls. The process of

Table 3. Magdalena Contreras informal settlements: quality of building materials and houses with concrete roof.

Quality of building materials a Houses with % concrete roof Settlements Good % Fair % Poor % Total

Cazulco 10 41.67 6 25.00 8 33.33 24 9 4.89 Chichicaspa 7 46.67 5 33.33 3 20.00 15 4 2.17 El Rincón 23 69.70 1 3.03 9 27.27 33 14 7.61 Ixtlahualtongo 74 48.68 60 39.47 18 11.84 152 47 25.54 Ocotenco 5 45.45 5 45.45 1 9.09 11 4 2.17 Sayula 51 32.28 4 2.53 103 65.19 158 23 12.50 Surco de Encinos 20 28.99 34 49.28 15 21.74 69 10 5.43 Tecutlalpan 53 56.99 36 38.71 4 4.30 93 43 23.37 Tierra Colorada 31 26.50 59 50.43 27 23.08 117 25 13.59 Totolapan 8 17.39 32 69.57 6 13.04 46 5 2.72 Total 282 39.28 242 33.70 194 27.02 718 184 100.00

Note : a For calculation procedure see Table 6. Source : Own calculations from questionnaires. consolidation is notably heterogeneous and in a concrete roof which would ensure greater there is a high proportion of precarious safety in a very vulnerable area. This is despite housing. We often found that while the walls the fact that the materials used for the floors are made of good-quality materials, those used and walls are only in the fair or poor categories. for the roof are disposable because construct- We noted frequently that some dwellings with ing a solid roof is the most expensive part of the concrete roofs had only one or two good- construction process. quality walls, while the other walls were made of Using these factors as a basis, we evaluated disposable materials such as wood or metal housing quality in two ways: first, we calculated sheets. In short, the inhabitants of these settle- a housing quality index taking into account the ments show a lack of economic capacity to con- materials utilised for floors, walls, and roofs. solidate their houses. The findings are shown in Table 3, and one For the purpose of demonstrating the lack of important result comes to light: although five correlation between homes with a concrete of the settlements included in the survey regis- roof and the availability of services, the type of tered values that showed good-quality housing water supply was taken as a variable (see (in more than 40% of the total), only two settle- Table 4). The data shows, above all, that of the ments (Sayula and Ocotenco) registered mostly total number of dwellings surveyed (719), just poor-quality housing. Moreover, three settle- 25 per cent (184) have a concrete roof, while ments registered only fair quality housing. If we only 14 per cent (104) also have some sort of analyse the totals for all of the settlements, the infrastructure for water supply. This is a very values registered for the three levels of quality low ratio. Of the total number of dwellings with are rather similar, with about a third of the a concrete roof, just 22 per cent have running settlements in each category of housing quality. (piped) water inside the house; 59 per cent A very reliable indicator of the degree of have piped water outside the dwelling,12 and 18 consolidation is that the houses have a concrete per cent get their water from a hydrant or roof. When this variable is selected we observe a public tap. However, 43.4 per cent of these problematic situation as the percentage in all dwellings also obtain water by informal means the settlements is lower than for any other indi- such as water tank trucks, springs, rivers, and cator of housing quality in any of the categories wells. (see Table 3). In other words, only a small pro- This shows that the quality of materials used portion of the inhabitants of these dwellings for building the houses is not highly correlated (24% of the total) have the resources to invest to the quality of available services. Even when

Table 4. Magdalena Contreras informal settlements: dwellings with concrete roof and formal water Infrastructure.

Settlements Piped water % Piped water % Public % Total inside dwelling outside dwelling hydrant

Cazulco 1 12.50 7 87.50 0 0.00 8 Chichicaspa 0 0.00 1 100.00 0 0.00 1 El Rincon 1 11.11 8 88.89 0 0.00 9 Ixtlahualtongo 7 31.82 12 54.55 3 13.64 22 Ocotenco 1 50.00 1 50.00 0 0.00 2 Sayula 2 13.33 5 33.33 8 53.33 15 Surco de Encinos 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 0.00 0 Tierra Colorada 2 11.11 13 72.22 3 16.67 18 Tecutlalpan 8 30.77 14 53.85 4 15.38 26 Totolapan 1 33.33 1 33.33 1 33.33 3 Total 23 22.12 62 59.62 19 18.27 104

Source : Own calculations from questionnaires. the dwellings have a concrete roof, the infra- ago, but there has been a considerable process structure that is necessary to guarantee the of densification over recent years. The survey water supply is inadequate, thus it fails to meet results show that half of the houses were built in the needs of the population, and they even find the 1990s, and 25 per cent in the last five years. it necessary to resort to informal supply The results show the considerable heterogene- methods. This happens because the consolida- ity in the quality of the interior of the houses, tion of housing goes further than the building Both the oldest and the most recent housing capacities of the inhabitants. The provision of have high percentages of good and bad quality services depends on the local urban policy and construction, The poor quality housing oscil- the mobilisation of the inhabitants to access lates between 25 and 30 per cent of the total. them. In the Sayula and Tierra Colorada settle- Generally, the process of housing consolida- ments, the housing has been constructed over tion evolves from one common room to the the last ten years and the quality is poor. The construction of private spaces such as bed- data shows that the characteristics of dwellings rooms. In the houses in the settlements during the recent process of densification are included in the study, the number of rooms is very precarious. The data also shows the low low: 47.8 per cent of dwellings have one or two levels of consolidation of housing in the last 20 bedrooms, but a significant one-third (33%) do years. not have separate bedrooms, so the house has In many cases, housing quality and the only one single room where all the family activi- process of consolidation show the persistence ties are conducted. This is an important indica- of chronic precariousness, and this is related to tor of the precarious living conditions of the the low economic level of the settlers. In addi- inhabitants. Referring specifically to the exist- tion, there has been no significant improve- ence of a bathroom, we found that 67.3 per ment when services do arrive due to the cent of the dwellings have an inside bathroom; illegality of the dwellings and the constant risk but we must point out that 22 per cent do not of eviction due to the high ecological value of have a bathroom inside the house. In these the zone. cases, the family has constructed a room on the lot out of disposable materials and they use it MEASURING THE DEGREE OF POVERTY for washing, with a hole in the ground or a IN THE IRREGULAR SETTLEMENTS latrine. Finally, the number of years of residence was Poverty due to unsatisfied basic needs – The correlated with housing quality. Table 5 shows methodology for this measurement is based on that the first settlers arrived more than 15 years the index for the measurement of poverty due

Table 5. Magdalena Contreras: years of residence and housing quality.

Settlement Between 0 and 5 years Between 6 and 10 years Between 11 and 15 years 16 + years Total

Bad Regular Good Bad Regular Good Bad Regular Good Bad Regular Good

Cazulco 0 3 1 1 1 0 1 1 3 4 3 6 24 Chichicaspa 3 2 1 0 1 3 0 0 0 2 0 3 15 Ixtlahualtongo 8 15 12 3 11 14 2 13 10 5 21 38 152 Ocotenco 0 1 1 1 0 1 2 0 1 1 1 2 11 Rincón, El 1 5 4 0 1 8 0 2 7 0 1 4 33 Sayula 18 0 6 26 2 12 32 2 18 27 0 15 158 Surco de Encinos 6 8 4 3 12 3 3 4 4 3 10 9 69 Tecutlapalpan 1 11 21 1 7 18 1 5 3 1 13 11 93 Tierra Colorada 8 24 2 11 8 11 2 14 5 6 14 12 117 Totolapan 1 6 3 3 15 4 2 8 0 0 3 1 46 Total 46 75 55 49 58 74 45 49 51 49 66 101 718

Source : Own calculations from questionnaires. 03TeAuthors The 2013 © 369 370 ADRIÁN G. AGUILAR & FLOR LÓPEZ GUERRERO to unsatisfied basic needs, which integrates tered severe levels of poverty. The group for diverse variables that have been identified as overcrowding registered a moderate situation needs, such as water, drainage, electricity as its value was near the norm. One of the supply, the number of rooms per person, a particularly striking results is for the lowest bathroom and kitchen, housing, health and values for the global index, which were regis- education. tered in El Rincon with an index of 0.39, fol- In order to calculate the index, (see Table 6) lowed by Ixtlahualtongo with an index of 0.44. the variables had first to be divided and Seven settlements are in the extreme poverty ordered into five groups. The first group is range and three in absolute poverty using the composed of urban services; the second consti- global index. The Totolapan settlement regis- tutes housing quality including the walls, floor tered the lowest value for urban services; while and roof; the third addresses the problem of the lowest value for housing and overcrowding overcrowding or the number of persons per were registered in El Rincon; for bathroom and room; the fourth consists of the presence of a kitchen the lowest value was for Surco de bathroom and kitchen; and the fifth deals with Encinos; and, finally the lowest value for social education and health variables (for the con- services was registered in Cazulco. The settle- struction of the Index see Boltvinik 1997). At a ments that registered conditions of absolute later stage a simplified index was arrived at poverty are El Rincon, Ixtlahualtongo and whereby each of the variables in the groups was Totolapan. The settlements in the extreme assigned a value according to its characteristics. poverty category that have an index closest to The values for each group were added up and the norm are Tecutlalpan and Sayula. This divided by the norm, which is the optimum or means that they have the highest values in the ideal value for each need. In this way, the values Global Index. The settlements with the lowest that were far from the norm represented the values in the Global Index are El Rincon and highest degrees of poverty. The next step was to Ixtlahualtongo. All these results reflect a obtain a multiple index which is the result of general situation of dire social exclusion. This the sum of the variables from each group is not only due to the lack of access to a secure divided by the number of variables that inte- home, but also for the deficient provision of grate each group. Finally, a global index was basic services and social services. Taken developed that is the average of each multiple together, the situation can be described as a index divided by the total number of groups, marked accumulation of disadvantages that that is five, and the result is used as the norm. aggravate poverty; they also point to a tendency The results were stratified according to the for impoverishment. global index in order to classify the degrees of poverty between absolute poverty with values Poverty below the poverty line – The poverty between 0 and 49; followed by extreme poverty line is understood as insufficient household with values between 0.50 to 0.89; and finally the income that results in poverty. In order to cal- population whose minimum basic needs are culate the poverty line it is necessary to establish satisfied with values of 0.90 to 1 (see Table 7). the total value of a basic basket of foods13 and The most important finding of the analysis con- the value of a minimum basket of needs.14 From firms that informal settlements register a very this the value of the integrated basket of goods significant degree of social exclusion owing to was established,15 which calculates the goods the degree of poverty and the living conditions according to the price of each product in of the inhabitants. Using the index that was Mexican pesos. This calculation is undertaken developed to measure poverty (see Table 7), by the National Social Development Evaluation in general terms, all the settlements register Board (Consejo Nacional de Evaluación de la extreme poverty. The first group, for urban Política de Desarrollo Social (CONEVAL)), services and the quality of housing registered who established the value at 2,168.13 pesos for an average of 0.60 and 0.56 respectively, which June 2011. puts them in the extreme poverty group. The The poverty arising from low household bathroom and kitchen group, and the social income is calculated by the percentage of per services group (education and health) regis- capita income per household that is destined

© 2013 The Authors Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geograﬁe © 2013 Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG Table 6. Magdalena Contreras irregular settlements: measurement method for the unsatisﬁed needs poverty index. CITY MEXICO IN SETTLEMENTS INFORMAL IN POVERTY

Variables Sub-variables Value Simple Index Norm Compound Index Global Index

Group I Public tap and trucks-to-cistern or to-pipes 1 SU = 1 + 2 + 3/3 3 Basic services to the home Poverty index of basic Urban Services Water tap outside the home 2 SV = SU + D + EE + B/4 unsatisﬁed needs (SU) Water tap inside the home 3 IPNBI=SV+CV+ Drainage In the street, a conduit or ravine 0 D = 0 + 1/1 1 H+PCB+SP/5 (D) Septic tank or street drainage 1

idcrf orEooicee oil egae©21 oa uc egahclSceyKNAG Society Geographical Dutch Royal 2013 © Geograﬁe Sociale en Economische voor Tijdschrift Electricity supply None 0 EE = 0 + 1 + 2/2 2 (EE) Without electricity meter 1 With meter 2 Rubbish Thrown in the street 0 B = 0 + 1 + 2/2 2 (B) Fixed rubbish dump 1 Collection by truck 2 Group II Construction materials for the roof 0 EV = 1 + 2 + 3/2 2 Housing quality Housing quality Cardboard or wood 1 CV = EVA + EVB/2 Roof Asbestos or metal laminated sheeting 2 (CVT) Concrete or brick tiles Housing quality Construction materials for the walls 0 EV = 1 + 2 + 3/2 2 Walls Cardboard sheeting (hardboard) 1 (CVP) or wood 2 Stone or mud bricks Cement, bricks or cement, stone blocks Group III Number of rooms per person H = CP and number of 2HC=CP/n Overcrowding (CP) people that live n= number of people (H) in the house that live in the house Sub group IV Kitchen 0 C = 0 + 1/2 2 With Kitchen and Bathroom Kitchen None 1 PBC=C+B/2 © With kitchen Bathroom None 0 B = 0 + 3/3 3 (B) With bathroom 3 Sub group V *Level of schooling by age (GEE)a ED = SUMA GEE/NA 1 Social services Education *Number of years (NA) The result is SP = ED+SA/2 (ED) divided by the number of people 7 years or more in the household 03TeAuthors The 2013 © Health Without the right to any health services 0 SA = 0 + 1 + 2/2 2 (SA) Right to other health services 1 Right to IMSS or ISSSTE health services 2

Note : a7 years of age is equivalent to 1 year’s schooling and the number increases in line with age until 14 which is equivalent to 8 years of shcooling. Between 15 and 49 years of age, basic schooling takes 9 years. From 50 years of age and upwards basic schooling is 6 years. 371 Source : Author’s own elaboration based on the Methodology for Measuring Poverty, the Integrated Method for Measuring Poverty, (Boltvinik, 1997: 401). 372 idcrf orEooicee oil egae©21 oa uc egahclSceyKNAG Society Geographical Dutch Royal 2013 © Geograﬁe Sociale en Economische voor Tijdschrift Authors The 2013 ©

Table 7. Magdalena Contreras: unsatisﬁed basic needs poverty index.

Settlement Urban Housing Overcrowding Kitchen and Social Global Level of services quality bathroom services index poverty

Cazulco 0.53 0.56 0.77 0.46 0.18 0.50 Extreme poverty Chichicaspa 0.58 0.66 0.94 0.52 0.32 0.60 Extreme poverty El Rincón 0.61 0.39 0.24 0.47 0.27 0.39 Absolute poverty Ixtlahualtongo 0.59 0.44 0.35 0.48 0.35 0.44 Absolute poverty Ocotenco 0.63 0.65 0.9 0.52 0.22 0.58 Extreme poverty Sayula 0.68 0.73 1.03 0.58 0.36 0.67 Extreme poverty

Surco de Encinos 0.65 0.50 0.86 0.33 0.23 0.51 Extreme poverty GUERRERO LÓPEZ FLOR & AGUILAR G. ADRIÁN Tecutlalpan 0.67 0.66 0.99 0.49 0.46 0.65 Extreme poverty Tierra Colorada 0.61 0.52 0.75 0.41 0.25 0.51 Extreme poverty Totolapan 0.41 0.54 0.81 0.41 0.30 0.49 Absolute poverty Average 0.60 0.56 0.76 0.46 0.29 0.54 Extreme poverty Average level Extreme poverty Extreme poverty Moderate poverty Absolute poverty Absolute poverty Extreme poverty of poverty

Notes : The levels of poverty were obtained using the following ranges according to the Global Index: Between 0 and 0.49 is considered absolute poverty Between 0.50 and 0.69 is considered extreme poverty Between 0.70 and 0.89 is moderate poverty Between 0.90 and 1.09 is equivalent to satisfied basic needs Source : Own calculations from questionnaires. POVERTY IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS IN MEXICO CITY 373 for acquiring the integrated basket of goods. cent of the population in the settlements (see Inhabitants that are below the established Table 8). That is to say that 43 per cent of the poverty line (equivalent to 100%) are consid- population covered by the survey is in a situa- ered poor. According to Boltvinik,(1997) the tion of extreme poverty. Using the same crite- poverty line is considered as the total house- ria, 30 per cent of the population covered by hold per capita income that is available so that the survey is in a situation of absolute poverty. the individual can acquire the integral basket Only 8.6 per cent of the population is in the of goods or the complete basket of basic category of moderate poverty. minimum requirements each month. This is Table 8 shows that the number of people in the sum total of the basic food basket and the extreme poverty has quadrupled in some settle- basket of minimum basic requirements. ments, for example Ixtlahualtongo, Sayula, The objective of the basic baskets is to Surco de Encinos, Tecutlalpan and Tierra measure the buying capacity of each individual Colorada where the poverty is most intense. in the household to obtain an integral basket of This is especially true of Sayula where 88 per goods each month. The per capita buying cent of the inhabitants (500 of the 507 habi- capacity by household to acquire the basic tants for which data is available from the survey basket is obtained by calculating the percent- results) are in a situation of absolute or extreme age of a certain income that is used to buy the poverty. This also means that the settlement has basic integrated basket. In this sense, the index the largest number of homes in these two cat- calculates the household per capita income, egories of poverty. that is everybody in the household that earns an The most critical situation is found among income, which is added up and then divided by the population that lives in absolute poverty, the number of persons in the household, from which means that they can only purchase up to which the disposable income for each member 30 per cent of the integral basket of goods each of the family. month. In this sense Sayula, Ixtlahualtongo and Table 8 shows the buying capacity for the Tierra Colorado have the highest number of integral basket according to the percentages of homes in this situation. The three settlements households below the poverty line. The house- taken together concentrate 61 per cent of the holds are classified as absolute poverty (earning total population in the category of absolute less than the minimum salary at 1,796 pesos); poverty. As far as the other survey results are extreme poverty (between one and two concerned, 16 per cent of households are mod- minimum salaries, which is equivalent to erately poor and 8 per cent are not poor. This is 2,691.9 pesos;16 moderately poor (between two an indicator of the socio-economic inequality and five minimum salaries, equivalent to inside the settlements. Ixtlahualtongo was the 6,281.1 pesos); and the population that is not settlement that registered the largest number poor (more than five minimum salaries, equiva- of people (35%) and households (32%) with a lent to 8,973 pesos). The results vary according moderate level of poverty, while, in a contradic- to the number of family members and their tory way, Sayula registered the largest number level of income. In families with more of non-poor homes (26%) and non-poor members, each member has less capacity to people (24%).With respect to the application purchase the integral basket of goods;17 and of the two methods for measuring poverty, vice versa, because in families with fewer there were some differences in the results for members, each member has greater capacity to the degree of poverty. In some settlements make the purchases. This is most common in the conditions change abruptly, for example families with four members. The result Sayula. Here the method for measuring unsat- depends as well on the income, as a family with isfied basic needs registered moderate levels of four members can purchase up to 100 per cent poverty, while the poverty line method regis- of the integral basket of goods only if their tered a result of extreme and absolute poverty. income is higher than five minimum salaries. The results did not change very much in the This result was never possible in families with other settlements because the majority of the more than five members. The analysis shows population and the households are concen- that this group oscillates between 31 and 60 per trated in the extreme poverty category,

© 2013 The Authors Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geograﬁe © 2013 Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG 374 idcrf orEooicee oil egae©21 oa uc egahclSceyKNAG Society Geographical Dutch Royal 2013 © Geograﬁe Sociale en Economische voor Tijdschrift Authors The 2013 ©

Table 8. Magdalena Contreras: poverty levels using the poverty line methodology.

Settlement Absolute poverty Extreme poverty Moderately poor Not poor Total households and population

Households People Households People Households People Households People Households People People

0% to 30% 31% to 60% 61% to 90% More than 90% Total Total No answer

Cazulco 1 5 7 27 7 26 3 11 18 69 20 Chichicaspa 2 15 5 32 0 0 7 20 14 67 27 El Rincon 9 45 8 38 5 35 6 21 28 139 30

Ixtlahualtongo 30 172 40 207 40 165 14 32 124 576 96 GUERRERO LÓPEZ FLOR & AGUILAR G. ADRIÁN Ocotenco 2 15 2 6 4 14 2 6 10 41 9 Sayula 39 233 63 274 5 5 26 58 133 570 87 Surco de Encinos 16 92 23 120 8 27 9 22 56 261 42 Tecutlalpan 15 137 17 196 35 47 13 20 80 400 60 Tierra Colorada 21 110 43 223 15 129 12 34 91 496 88 Totolapan 16 58 19 90 5 17 6 17 47 182 12 Total 152 882 227 1213 124 465 98 241 601 2801 471

Notes: Absolute poverty are inhabitats that earn less than 1 minimum salary. Extreme poverty are inhabitants that earn between 1 and 2 minimum salaries. Moderately poor are inhabitants that earn between 2 and 5 minimum salaries. Not poor are those inhabitants that earn more than 5 minimum salaries. Source : Own calculations from questionnaires. POVERTY IN INFORMAL SETTLEMENTS IN MEXICO CITY 375 although the tendency was towards the abso- ments tends to result in very bad quality lute poverty category. The intensity of the housing. The process of consolidation has been poverty was clearly shown by the poverty line slow and heterogeneous, not only for the lack method of measurement, and shows that of economic resources, but also for the insecu- income is a determining factor in the acquisi- rity of living in a zone whose use is defined as tion of the integral basket of goods. As we have ecological protection, Third, we found serious seen above, this means the purchase of basic issues related to the poverty and precarious foods, and poverty measured by this method living conditions that affect this population. means that the majority of the household Poverty levels were calculated using two income is destined to satisfy this need. Other methods: unsatisfied basic needs, and the items that are included in the basic basket are poverty line. We found that, in general terms transport and the purchase of water. The extreme poverty is found in all the ten settle- methods that are used to measure poverty have ments included in the study. This is because of demonstrated the constant struggle for survival the accumulation of disadvantages related to among some of the settlements included in the services, installations and the low level of con- study, and the disadvantages they face with solidation of housing. For some aspects, such as respect to inadequate services. health or education services, and having a bathroom and kitchen, the situation is so serious CONCLUSIONS that the degree of need drops to absolute poverty. This situation is much more evident in In our analysis, we have pointed out several some settlements. In accordance with income important aspects regarding the presence of levels and the capacity to acquire the basic informal settlements on the periphery of the basket of goods, the majority the population Federal District in Mexico City. First, these are found in the extreme poverty category settlements include a large number of dwell- (43%), and a high percentage are found in ings that have occupied rugged terrains with absolute poverty (30%). One important high ecological value that are not suitable for finding was the heterogeneity of socio- urbanisation because they form part of the con- economic situations, with a minority of the non- servation zone. The analysis of the data shows poor population in the lower middle class, but that the local government’s attitude has been whose economic situation had deteriorated. At tolerance and complicity in matters such as the other extreme, in other settlements poverty land occupation, while the provision of public can be four times higher than in others. This, services has been very deficient. Communal we understand, could be a direct consequence lands in the land conservation zone function as of the general deterioration in the economic territorial reserves for the poor in the south of conditions in the city since the mid 1990s. the Federal District, who have established To sum up, informal land occupations are irregular settlements in risky and vulnerable not just a problem for the poorer groups in conditions. cities, they are the essence of peripheral urbani- Second, we demonstrated that informal sation in developing countries. Public policy settlements comprise a very heterogeneous uni- towards informality reveals that it has generally verse, both in terms of housing quality and the failed to address the fundamental determi- presence of public services. Fundamentally, it nants of informality. These policies include the was shown that a high percentage of housing in following: the failure to foresee inevitable all the settlements is precarious. This includes future urban growth; inadequate urban norms old and new housing. The severe economic and regulations with which low-income groups situation in Mexico City over recent decades are unable to comply; the lack of sanctions for has affected the income of the population and informal ‘developers’; tolerance towards infor- therefore the possibility of consolidating the mal land occupations and the ‘client-oriented’ construction of their home. In extreme cases use of informal settlers; the lack of fiscal instru- they lack a concrete roof and their homes ments to regulate the functioning of land consist of only one room. At the same time the markets; and fundamentally the need for recent process of densification in the settle- policies to improve social equality or wages.

Attending to the issues related to informal for regularising land tenure. Once transferred settlements, housing, and social needs is essen- CORETT sells the land to each inhabitant indi- tial for our global understanding of peri-urban vidually. development. 8. Communal lands are now held by the heirs of a group of owners that were settled there legally since the colonial period, with deeds granted by Acknowledgments the Spanish Crown. However, they had been The authors acknowledge the collaboration of stripped of their right prior to the Mexican Revo- Daniel Morales in the statistical calculations and lution. As a result of Agrarian Reform after the information collection. Revolution, the lands were returned to those families (Schteingart 1989). 9. San Bernabé Ocotepec was established by a reso- Notes lution published in the Diario Oficial de la Fed- 1. See the review conducted by the United Nations eración (official gazette of the Mexican Federal (UN-Habitat 2003) in different countries. Government) on 28 March 1924; San Jerónimo 2. The metropolitan zone is made up of 76 munici- Aculco, on 7 August 1923; Magdalena Contreras palities: 16 delegations within the Federal Dis- Atlitic, on 11 January 1924; and San Nicolás trict (Distrito Federal); 59 municipalities Totolapan, on 24 April 1924. belonging to the State of México; and one 10. During the 1980s, communal land owners municipality in the State of Hidalgo (See decided to create an urban zone to meet their Sedesol, Conapo and INEGI 2007). housing needs and thus the El Ocotal settlement 3. Ejido and communal land was given to commu- was developed on communal lands (Acosta nities in Mexico under the 1917 Agrarian Colín 2001). Reform after the Mexican Revolution, which 11. The survey was pre-tested for improving the for- began in 1910. The land was communal property mulation of questions. and was not owned by the occupants/users on an 12. The study undertaken by Schteingart and Torres individual basis. (1997) also found that this type of water supply is 4. Connolly (2009) shows that changes in the politi- the most prevalent in informal settlements. cal party in power, and the arrival of a left-wing 13. In 2011 the value of the basic basket of food was party in the government of the Federal District, 1,006.53 pesos (US$84.40); this value is per has definitely not eliminated practices associated capita and per month in urban areas. with clientism, including those that determine 14. In 2011 the value of the minimum requirements access to land in irregular settlements. basket was 1,161.59 pesos (US$99.71); this value 5. The CL in the Federal District covers a total of is per capita and per month in urban areas (see 88,442 hectares, representing 59 per cent of the www.coneval.gob.mx). total land surface, and extends over nine of its 16 15. The value of the integral basket of goods was delegations (see Aguilar 2008). 2,168.13 pesos (US$186.11); this value is per 6. In 1970 it was calculated that 68 per cent of the capita and per month in urban areas. urban growth in the Federal District was on ejidal 16. According to the National Council for the Evalu- and communal lands (Schteingart, 1989; Cruz ation of Social Development Policy (Consejo 2001, 2011). Nacional de Evaluación de la Política de Desar- 7. The only way in which an inhabitant who bought rollo Social or CONEVAL), which is concerned a lot from a member of an ejido or a comunero with poverty in Mexico, the food poverty thresh- (communal land owner) may obtain a property old is approximately two monthly minimum deed is by a presidential decree which expropri- wages. We must note that this poverty threshold ates that land and transfers it to CORETT does not include other expenses that families (Comisión para la Regularización de la Tenencia usually have, such as education, health and trans- de la Tierra, or Commission for Land Tenure portation. Regularization) (see Diario Oficial de la Federación 17. The data on the number of family members (Official gazette of the federal government, pub- reveals that families with three to five members lished daily), 8 November 1974), which became predominate (58.5%) and in second place, fami- the only federal agency to assume responsibility lies with six to eight members (20%).

REFERENCES Decreto por el que se crea la CORETT, Comisión para la Regularización de la Tenencia de la Tierra (Commission Acosta Colín, S.L. (2001), Las Tierras Comunales for Land Tenure Regularization), 8 November. de la Magdalena Contreras. Una Naturaleza Social- Duhau, E. (1998), Hábitat Popular y Política izada (Dissertation, National Autonomous Univer- Urbana. Mexico City: Universidad Autónoma sity of Mexico). Metropolitana-Azcapotzalco, Miguel Ángel Aguilar, A.G. (1987), Urban Planning in the 1980s Porrúa. in Mexico City. Operative Process or Political Duhau,E.&A.Giglia (2008), Las Reglas del Facade? Habitat International 11, pp. 23–38. Desorden: Habitar la Metropoli. Mexico City: Siglo Aguilar, A.G. (2008), Peri-urbanization, Illegal Veintiuno Editores y Universidad Autonoma Settlements and Environmental Impact in Mexico Metropolitana- Azcapotzalco. City, Cities 25, pp.133–145. Gilbert,A.&P.Ward (1985), Housing, The State Ariza,M.&P.Solís (2009), Dinamica Socio- and The Poor. Policy and Practice in Three Latin económica y Segregación Espacial en tres Areas American Cities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Metropolitanas de México, 1990–2000, Estudios Press. Sociológicos, 27, pp. 171–209. Gobierno del Distrito Federal (2005), Programa Arroyo Flores, J. (2005), Estructura Urbana de la Delegacional de Desarrollo Urbano para la Delegación la Delegacion Magdalena Contreras (Dissertation, Magdalena Contreras del Distrito Federal, (Urban National Autonomous University of Mexico). Development Plan for the Magdalena Contreras Azuela, A. (1997), Evolución de las Políticas de Delegation), Gaceta Oficial del Distrito Federal Regularización. In:A.Azuela &F.Tomas eds., El (the Federal District Official Gazette), 28 January, Acceso de los Pobres al Suelo Urbano, pp. 221–231. Mexico D.F. Mexico City: Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales/ Gonzalez de la Rocha, M., E. Jelin,J.Perlman, PUEC/CEMCA, UNAM. B.R. Roberts,H.Safa & P.M. Ward (2004), From Boltvinik, J. (1997), Aspectos Conceptuales y the Marginality of the 1960s to the New Poverty of Metodologicos para el Estudio de la Pobreza. In: Today. Latin American Research Review 39, pp. 183– M. Schteingart, ed., Pobreza, Condiciones de Vida y 203. Salud en la Ciudad de Mexico, pp. 379–426. Mexico Iniestra Bárcenas, J. (2006), Asentamientos City: El Colegio de Mexico. Irregulares en Zonas de Alto Riesgo. Caso: Las Calderon Cockburn, J. (2006), Mercado de Tierras Barrancas de la Delegacion Magdalena Contreras Urbanas, Propiedad y Pobreza. Cambridge, MA: de las Areas Naturales Protegidas. (Dissertation, SINCO Editores. National Autonomous University of Mexico). Connolly, P. (2009), Observing the Evolution of Iracheta, A. (1984), El Suelo, Recurso Estrategico para Irregular Settlements. International Development el Desarrollo Urbano. Toluca: Gobierno del Estado Planning Review 31, pp. 1–35. de Mexico, UAEM. Cruz, M.S. (2001), Propiedad, Poblamiento y Periferia Janoschka, M. (2005), El Modelo de Ciudad Lati- Rural en la Zona Metropolitana de la Ciudad de Mexico. noamericana. Privatizacion y Fragmentacion del Red Nacional de Investigacion Urbana y Univer- Espacio Urbano de Buenos Aires: El Caso del Nor- sidad Autonoma Metropolitana-Azcapotzalco, delta. In: M. Welch Guerra, ed., Buenos Aires a la Mexico. Deriva. Transformaciones Urbanas Recientes, pp. Cruz, M.S. (2011), Expansion Urbana en Suelo de 95–131. Buenos Aires: Editorial Biblos. Conservación y Propiedad de la Tierra en el Dis- La Jornada (2009a), Tres Muertos en Magdalena Con- trito Federal. In: E. Perez Campuzano,M.Per- treras Ocasiona Deslave Causado por las lluvias. 17 evochtchikova & V.S. Avila Foucat, eds., Suelo September. p. 37. de Conservacion del Distrito Federal, pp. 65–91. Insti- La Jornada (2009b), Reubicarán a 19 Familias Desalo- tuto Politécnico Nacional y Miguel Angel Porrúa, jadas de Magdalena Contreras por Deslaves. 18 México, September, p. 39. Cuadros Betancourt, P.L. (2001), Tenencia de la McGranahan, G., D. Mitlin &D.Satterthwaite Tierra y Ecologia en Magdalena Contreras. (Disser- (2008), Land and Services for the Urban Poor tation, National Autonomous University of Mexico. in Rapidly Urbanizing Countries. In:G.Martine Diario Oficial de la Federación (1974), [Official Gazette G. McGranahan,M.Montgomery &R. of the Federal Government, published daily], Fernández-Castilla, eds., The New Global Frontier:

Urbanization, Poverty, and Environment in the 21st G. Martine G. McGranahan,M.Montgomery Century, pp. 77–97. London: Earthscan. &R.Fernández-Castilla, eds., The New Global Pezzoli, K. (1998), Human Settlements and Planning Frontier: Urbanization, Poverty, and Environment in the for Ecological Sustainability: The Case of Mexico City. 21st Century, pp. 99–114. London: Earthscan. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Tomas, F. (1997), Los Asentamientos Populares PGOEDF (2003), Programa General de Ordenamiento Irregulares en las Periferias Urbanas de América Ecologico del Distrito Federal, 2000–2003, Secretaria Latina. In:A.Azuela &F.Tomas, eds., El Acceso de del Medio Ambiente, Gobierno del Distrito los Pobres al Suelo Urbano, pp.17–43. Mexico City: Federal, Mexico. National Autonomous University of Mexico. Portes,A.&K.Hoffman (2003), Latin American Torres M.T. (1997), Caracteristicas Sociodemograﬁ- Class Structures. Their Composition and Change cas de las Unidades Domesticas en las Colonias during the Neoliberal Era. Latin American Research Estudiadas.In:M.Schteingart,ed.,Pobreza,Condi- Review 38, pp. 41–82. ciones de Vida y Salud en la Ciudad de Mexico, pp. Rodríguez,J.&C.Arriagada (2004), Segregación 277–302. Mexico City: El Colegio de Mexico. Residencial en la Ciudad Latinoamericana. Revista UN-HABITAT (2003), The Challenge of Slums: Global EURE 30, pp. 5–24. Report on Human Settlements 2003, United Nations Sabatini, F., G. Cáceres &J.Cerda (2001), Segre- Human Settlements Programme. London: gación Residencial en las Principales Ciudades Earthscan. Chilenas: Tendencias de las Tres Ultimas Decadas Varley, A. (2006), Los Usos Políticos de la Ilegal- y Posibles Cursos de Acción. Revista EURE 27, pp. idad: La Evidencia del México Urbano. In:E. 21–42. Fernandes &A.Varley, eds., Ciudades Ilegales. La Schteingart, M. (1989), Los Productores del Espacio Ley y el Urbanismo en Países en Vías de Desarrollo, pp. Habitable: Estado, Empresa y Sociedad en la Ciudad de 209–230. Promesha: Cochabamba. Mexico. Mexico City: El Colegio de Mexico. Ward, P.M. (1998), Mexico City. Chichester: John Schteingart, M & M.T. Torres (1997), Politicas de Wiley. Agua y Drenaje en la Ciudad de Mexico y su Apli- Wigle, J. (2010a), Social Relations, Property and cación en las Colonias. In:M.Schteingart, ed., ‘Peripheral’ Informal Settlement: The Case of Pobreza, Condiciones de Vida y Salud en la Ciudad de Ampliación San Marcos, Mexico City. Urban Studies Mexico, pp. 129–188. Mexico City: El Colegio de 47, pp. 411–436. Mexico. Wigle, J. (2010b), The ‘Xochimilco Model’ for Man- Sedesol, Conapo & INEGI (2007), Delimitación de las aging Irregular Settlments in Conservation Land Zonas Metropolitanas de México 2005. Mexico City: in Mexico City. Cities 27, pp. 337–347. Secretaría de Desarrollo Social, Consejo Nacional Winchester, L. (2008), La Dimensión Económica de Población, Instituto Nacional de Estadística, de la Pobreza y Precariedad Urbana en las Geografía e Informática. Ciudades Latinoamericanas. Implicaciones para Smolka,M.&A.Larangeira (2008), Informality las Políticas del Hábitat. Revista EURE 34, pp. and Poverty in Latin American urban policies. In: 27–47.