sign in sign up
<<
Home , Azcapotzalco, Azcapotzalco (altepetl), Calimaya, Chapultepec, Chapultepec Castle, Cuajimalpa

Voices ofMexico !October • December. 1995 61 City: growth and development

Francisco Pérez de Salazar V.*

y the time ofthe fifth occurrence which motivated islands the Jeader of the millennium B.C. the Valley settlement on the small islands within () found an eagle perched on a B of Mexico had become an the Valley ofMexico's system of cactus plant devouring a serpent, and area of stable settlements lakes. This enormous natural basin that is whát led to the foundation of where farmers cultivated coro, chiles, contained the salt water ofTexcoco this great city. squash, avocados and beans. Jake as well as the fresh waters of The island gradually grew in size Development continued slowly, under and lakes. dueto the deliberate drying out of these conditions, until the year 1,000 According to legend, on one of the severa! small adjoining surfaces. This B.C.; the altiplano (highlands) began to feel the influence ofthe Olmec "mother culture," originating along the coas! of the Gulfof Mexico. The first influences arase in what is now , where the oldest archeological remnants are to be found. At the same time, flourished to the southeast of the Valley ofMexico. was founded jusi a few miles from the Anáhuac Valley, becoming the first great city in ali of -we understand Mesoamerica to be the area from the northern center of Mexico, in the state of Zacatecas, to Honduras and Nicaragua in Central America. The great -today - served as headquarters for the greatest kingdom, consolidating itself in the J 5th century A.D. throughout the vast territories ofthe altiplano. The location of the great capital was due to a mythical-religious

• Doctorate in architecture and master's Map published by Pierre Bertius, ca. 1620, derivedJrom the map attrib-uted to degree in monwnent rcstcration. Hemán Cortés. 62 Voices o/Mexico /October • December, 1995

was the result of an invention called -plots built on a pile of wood filled with earth. This technique arose in the Valley ofMexico and can still be seen in Xochimilco and Chalco. The huge, open religious capital had no evident defenses, although its island location allowed for visual oversight of ali access points. One must also take into account the support provided by the city's allies and tributaries a long the banks of the lake. Tenochtitlan was founded in 1325. Developing together with the capital was , founded around the year 1337 and home to the huge provisions market as well as great schools for warriors and nobles. In addition, the lakeside cities of , , Xochimilco, Chalco and Texcoco achieved great splendor. The first four of these settlements are now included within the metropolitan area ofMexico City. This pro vides us with an idea of how big was in the l 6th century. Island towns such as Tláhuac, Mixquiq and Xochimilco followed the

same pattem as Tenochtitlan. They Map sent to Charles V by Hernán Cortés. grew together with the parceling out of chinampas (averaging 1640 square interconnections for the social life of Letters). The second, clearly made feet each), which provided the the metropolis. by the Indians themselves, is framework for the establishment of At the time of the Conquest, preserved at the University of "lndian patios" -family groups according to the scholar González Upsala, Sweden. which made it possible to carry out Aparicio, the city had a basically After the Conquest, Alonso complernentary activities such as rectangular shape and measured García Bravo had the task of farrning the plots and orchards as approximately two miles wide, from reconstructing the city. His design was raising domestic animals. east to west, and two anda half miles based on the layout of the Aztec The areas set aside for religious long. Thus, the total area covered was capital. Thus, the old access roads activities and for housing the upper around 5 square miles. were preserved: (today the classes (both the clergy and the After the arrival of Hernán Vallejo causeway), Tlacopan military) were clearly delimited from Cortés, many maps were made (presently the xico-Tacuba road), the areas for cornrnoners, who during the era of the Conques t. The lztapalapa (today avenue), and congregated in neighborhoods called most importan! are "Cortés' Map" Tepeyac (now called Misterios road). calpulis. The calpulís were linked by and the "Map of Santa Cruz." The The four great lndian means of a system of canals and first was published around 1524, neighborhoods were also preserved, irrigation channels navigated by together with the 's and now bear both their Christianized canoe. This provided the Cartas de relación (Narrative names from the Colonial period, Yoices ofMexico /October • December, 1995 63

together with their old or Crown, the Spaniards were given were already thirty of these cities. narnes: Santa María concessions of'Indians, who were forced Other centers were built in Jndian Tlaquechiucan (today Santa Maria la to pay the tribute in labor towns, such as Tlaxcala, Cholula, Redonda); San Juan Moyotla in the as well as in kind. lndians played a key and Texcoco. southwest; San Sebastián Atzacoalco role in the construction ofthe great By the l 6th century the urban in the northeast and Santiago Teopan Spanish cities, built by the Indians' structure of the island had been in the southeast. When this design was indefatigable hands as they worked as divided into three parts: in the north begun, Tlatelolco, the equivalen! of a bricklayers, stonemasons and carpenters, was the Jndian community of Santiago fifth neighborhood, already formed as well as in the transportation of Tlatelolco, to the south was another part ofthe city. construction materials. Indian community, San Juan According to Fray Bernardino de The most important representatives Tenochtitlan, while the central area Sahagún the Mexica ceremonial center of the Crown were the viceroy and the was occupied by the Spaniards. This had 78 importan! buildings. lt was audiencias (High Court), Below these central urban area is clearly outlined here that the most importan! public were the cabildos (councils), which in by the streets of San Juan de Letrán edifices were built during the Colonial general terms ---depending on the (now Lázaro Cardenas) to the west, period and where a Renaissance plaza importance of the given population Santísima to the east, Colombia on the was constructed, surrounded by area- were made up of govemment northem side and Izazaga to the south. buildings on its four sides. aldermen and "ordinary mayors" In accordance with the "state of The most importan! ruins from charged with administeringjustice. Ali alert" in effect during the first years Tenochtitlan 's ceremonial center are these officials were subordinate to the after the Conquest, Hernán Cortés found in the plaza which was ChiefMayor. permitted the conquistadors to build discovered east of the Cathedral and Large commercial and their homes as if they were Metropolitan Sanctuary and undemeath administrative centers developed in fortresses, with walls and towers both buildings, causing serious conjunction with the foundation of featuring many small windows. structural problems in the Cathedral. Mexico City, such as Oaxaca, , Cortés installed four towers in his For their participation in the Guadalajara, Atlixco and Valladolid home, while his great captain conquest of land and subjects for the (now Michoacán). Around 1574 there Sandoval built but two, doubtless so as to denote that he had less status

/_, ,, , than his superior. In 1524 the Hospital of Jesus was founded, and it is there that the remains of Hernán

••• 1. Cortés are to be found today . Four large religious convents -San Francisco, Santo Domingo, and San Agustín- already occupied an important place in the city's layout. The first three were modifications of the same rectangular design, occupying severa) blocks. Inside the Indian neighborhoods the cihuacalli was preserved -a Roman-style "wornen's house." The aqueducts ofT!axpan were preserved and reconstructed, using water from Santa Fe, and . Convents, while originally Manuel Toussaint's irüerpretatíon. of the map drawn by Juan Gómez de Transmonte prohibited, were eventually built around 1628. -mainly during the l 7th century=- -

64 Voices ofMexico /October • December, 1995

and were small cities in themselves. Lithographed centuries later in population growth caused land to be Buildings such as hospitals, the Florence, it gives usa picture of the distributed in ever smaller plots. This Viceregal , the Cabildo halls development ofthe city, which had did not hinder the rich from building and the University made up the rest of spread to the east and west. The most rnajestic homes as well as buildings the city's great edifices. importan! buildings represented in far rent, leading to construction along The geological structure ofthe this perspective are: 18 religious such streets and plazas as Mayor, valley's basin, constan! rain and the convents, 14 other religious Volador, Tlatelolco, Regina, Santo lack of control over accumulated water buildings, 8 hospitals, 4 colleges and Domingo, San Juan and Concepción. brought about severa! floods, despite parish churches, the Cathedral (still By the 18th century there were 78 the large number of containment works under construction), the Royal Palace such areas. based on stone dams built.during the and the Cabildo hall. One can also Two types ofhousing units were reign of Ahuizótl and Nezahualcóyotl. see the aqueduct which reached the characteristic ofthe 18th céntury, The A great flood, beginning in 1629 and fountain of Tlaxpana near the first, called a vecindad, was made up lasting three years, caused the cernen! Alameda, bringing spring water from of two or three patios joined in linear to soften in most buildings, leaving Chapultepec. On the east side, the fashion, providing ample sleeping them in total ruin; this is the reason ancient dam built by Ahuizótl and spaces. This type of housing for the city's reconstruction in the later reconstructed by Luis de arrangement promoted communal life l 7th century. Velazco after the flood of 1555 can through the carrying out of collective One year before the flood, Juan also be seen. activities, such as preparing food and Gómez de Transmonte drew a Despite periodic great plagues, washing laundry. Following a rigid beautiful perspective ofthe city. large-scale immigration and class criterion, the front dwellings were reserved for Spanish colonists, while the interior rooms were inhabited by criollo, , 1 lndian or mulatto families, in accordancc with their social position. The second type was made up of artisan and commercial dwellings and workshops, organized under thc "cup and plate" plan -that is, a workshop on the bottom floor and living quarters for the artisan or shopkeeper on the upper leve!. In addition to artisanand manufacturing activity, commerce and mining developed as the most productive fields during the Colonial period. Mexico City's large, majestic homes were built during the 18th century, Among them are: Los Azulejos (or the house ofthe Condes del Valle de Orizaba) on ; on the same street, the Palace of lturbide (or ofthe Marqueses del Jaral de Berrio); on Isabel la Católica avenue, the Palace of the Condes de San Mateo Valparaíso; on Pino Suárez, the Palace of the Condes de Santiago

1 Criollos were "pure" Spaniards bom in the colonies (as distinguished from peninsulares, who were colonists bom in Spain). means people of mixed Map by Diego García Conde, ca. 1793. racial ancestry. (Editor's note.) -

Voices ofMexico /October • December, 1995 65

de Calimaya -and many other which give grandeur to our city, which baptized the ! "City of Palaces." "", 18th-century nobles' homes were traditionally rwo-story buildings; in ___ ,___ _... _ sorne cases there was a third leve) with towers. As in the case of the Palace of lturbide, these were later converted into loggias. The first floor usually had two patios -the main patio and the service patio-- designed for general use, as well as garages, sheds, bams for the animals and streetside annexes a long the lines of the aforementioned "cup and plate" system. The mezzanine, which was part of the second floor, held offices, -··-"':':""- guest-rooms and service areas. The second floor had two main ,., (/, ... -, areas: the social and the private or /, - ...... : __ \\--·- family area. The social area included the "Salan ofthe Dais" (a parlar featuring portraits ofthe viceroy and various members ofthe royal family). Reconstruction of the map of A-fexico City around 1869. Homes whose owners boasted Castilian titles ofnobility included the century. In 1786 the Academy of San percent of Mexicos urban real estate, "Salan of the Doce!." This salan was Carlos was founded (its original name road-paving and cleaning began. fumished with a raised throne and a was the Academy of Noble Arts of San Toward the end of the century the portrait of the ruling monarch, whom Carlos and ), featuring both Indians were expelled once again the family hoped someday to receive civilian and military teachers who had from the urban center for non­ in their home. Another area was called settled in Mexico. This Jed to such payment of laxes, thereby the "Cabinet," a salan filled with works as the Royal Tribunal of Mines, accentuating social differences collections and scientific objects used built by Manuel Tolsá; the Church of and discontent. to demonstrate culture and display Loreto, by the same architect; the In the 19th century, due to family members' travel mementoes. Royal Tobacco Factory (now the turbulent political, economic and These noble homes also had a Ciudadela), by Manuel Constanzó, and social changes, Academy architects chapel as well as a library, music and other great urban works Jike the famous were unable to carry out many game rooms on the second floor. The Paseo de Bucareli. projects. However, during the French prívate area contained bed-charnbers The urban areas as they were in intervention the city was modemized and antechambers -hallways to the 1793 can be seen clearly on the map and key buildings such as the National bed-charnbers. The service rooms, produced by Diego García Conde, with Palace and Chapultepec were servants' quarters and kitchens were 897 streets and alleys, 78 plazas, small remodeled. In the Juárez era Church located in the second-floor patio area. squares and tavems, the Cathedral, 14 property was secularized; many The houses were decorated with parish churches, 41 convents and 3 ecclesiastical edifices were applied Mexican artwork, folding retreats, 1 O colleges, 7 hospitals and a demolished or divided and converted screens of Chinese Jacquer and poorhouse, as well as the Royal into public buildings such as libraries, Japanese inlays, walnut-wood beds, Factory of Cigars and Cigarettes. hospitals and vecindades. Chinese marble and silk, Egyptian and Starting in 1762 public lighting During the presidency of Lerdo de Turkish rugs. was provided by property owners, Tejada, the capital was influenced by a By the end of the century the who had to install lantems in front of powerful impulse for innovative urban area covered about 2,658 acres, their homes. By 1790, when the change. The located compared to 1 ,633 acres in the 17th clergy possessed more than 40 66 Voices o/Mexico /October • December, /995

on the outskirts of the urban area began ofthe city. In December of 1918, the the year 2000. It is estimated that the to be divided up, creating such "Organic Law ofFederal Districts and metropolitan area's population will neighborhoods as Guerrero, Santa Territories" was approved, creating reach 25 mi Ilion by the year 2000, and María la Ribera, Juárez and San Miguel the Department ofthe Federal District. 30 million by the year 2010. Chapultepec in the area. Twelve years later the city had In 1980, the agency which carries Toe economic prosperíty generated 1,500,000 inhabitants, distributed in out the "census" of Mexico City's during the 30-year government of four main delegaciones historical legacy promulgated a decree Porfirio Díaz led the govenunent to (administrative regions) - outlining an area with two create buildings which represented Cuauhtémoc, , subdivisions: perimeter "A," the modemity and the beginning of a new Benito Juárez and Miguel Hidalgo­ Historie Center, which covers the zone epoch. Toe Ayuntamiento (municipal occupying approximately 50 square occupied by the pre-Hispanic city and govemment) redivided the city into 12 miles, with an average population the areas it occupied through its municipalities, introduced electrical density of 129 people per hectare.' expansion during the Colonial era, up power, trarns, telegraph, telephone, By 1948 1,595,000 people lived in to the War ofindependence; and water supply and drainage systems. A the Federal District, whose urban area perimeter "B," which covers the areas large drainage channel was also covered almost 72 square miles. In into which the city expanded, up to the constructed. 1950 the number had grown to end ofthe 19th century. In 1910, as part ofthe celebration 3,283,000, of whom 93 percent were Today the population of the of 100 years of independence, huge part of the Federal District and 7 Mexican Republic is almost 93 public works Iike the Palace of Fine percent part of the adjoining million. The Federal District is home Arts, Central Post Office, Palacc of municipalities in the to 11.56 percent of that total, while Communications and the Geologic - and Tlalnepantla. The the state of Mexico has 15.54 lnstitute were built. Mexico City's urban population in 1960 occupied percent. I f we add together the wealthy families moved from the city nearly 250 square miles and about figures for these areas -many of center to the Juárez neighborhood. 410 square miles in 1970, with a which are adjoining and Most streets and avenues in the city density of 135 people per hectare. overlapping+- we observe that one center and wealthy neighborhoods This rose to 167 per hectare when the fourth of the country's population is wcre paved, and public roads in population ofthe Mexico City concentrated in the metropolitan area general were improved. The Paseo de metropolitan zone reached 7,500,000 of Mexico City anda number of was Iaid out in the style of inhabitants. The metropolitan municipalities in the state of Mexico. the Champs Elysées in , with transport system -the "metro"­ The growth rate ofthe Federal monuments to Cuauhtémoc and was established around this time. District is the country's lowest, at 0.19 Columbus, as well as the Column of Although it was prohibited, percent, while states like Quintana lndependence. Around this same time people settled to the east, in the flood Roo and Baja California have rates of large commercial stores were built, zone ofthe former Lake Texcoco. 6.26 percent and 3.99 percent like the Casa Boker, Puerto de Between 1974 and 1976 these respectively. Thus, action must be taken and Palacio de Hierro. settlements were regulated, and in to bríng about immediate At this time the city's population 1980 they became Ciudad decentralization, with the aim of reached 470,000 inhabitants, Nezahualcóyotl. Mexico City's correcting Mexico' s unequal population occupying an area of about 20 square population grew from 14,455,000 in distribution. It is only through such miles. By 1920 the city had 740,000 1980 to 19,000,000 in 1988. measures that we can minimize inhabitants, who began to move The National Population Institute disorderly growth, which, judging by toward the southwest, creating the estimates that programs designed to the dimensions ofthe problem, has , San Angel Inn and La slow the growth rate may lower the reached uncontrollable levels in the Florida neighborhoods. Industrial and rate from the 1.87 percent reached Jarge cities, inevitably bringing social working-class neighborhoods -such during the l 990s to 1.67 percent by and economic damage, as well as risk as today's Industrial Vallejo, that we may lose such national treasures

Lindavista, Rastro and Michoacán 2 A hectare is approx:imately equal to 2.5 as our unparalleled Historie Center, the areas-> were established in the north acres. (Editor's note.) "City of Palaces." m