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Prof. Silvia Núñez GarcíaCISAN-UNAM

Prof. Valeria Marina ValleCISAN-UNAM

February 2015

Snapshots of Mexico City

ContentLocationBrief History of Mexico CityDemographicsCONEVAL Definition of PovertyPoverty in Mexico CityPoverty and Access to FoodFood Supply in Mexico CityCentral MarketUrban Agriculture

Location•The Mexico City metropolitan area, built around the Federal District, is one of the world’s largest urban centers.

•The Federal District takes up only 0.1% of the nation’s territory.*1

•The Mexico City basin is bounded on the south and west by the Ajusco Mountains, on the north by the Guadalupe Mountains, and on the east by the Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl volcanoes. It sits 2,240 meters above sea level.*2

*1 Urban and Peri Urban Agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean. Mexico City (http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/greenercities/en/GGCLAC/mexico_city.html).*2 (http://www.ciudadmexico.com.mx/historia.htm).

Brief History of Mexico City*

About 1000 BCE, several communities and small villages began to flourish on the banks of Texcoco Lake. At first they survived by agriculture, but with time they began to engage in other activities like ceramics and commerce.

This agricultural model stimulated the consolidation of highly developed theocratic societies, outstanding among which were Cuicuilco in the southern part of the Valley of Mexico and Teotihuacan to the north.

*(http://www.ciudadmexico.com.mx/historia.htm).

Fuente: MORA Vázquez Teresa. Los pueblos originarios de la Ciudad de México atlas etnográfico, 2007. Pág. 35

Brief History Of Mexico City*

México – Tenochtitlan, whose name meant “in the navel of the Moon,” was founded in 1325 of our era.

The Spanish laid siege to Tenochtitlan in 1521; it fell after three months without fresh food and water.

Gibson has established that at the time of the conquest, the Valley of Mexico had 1 500 000 inhabitants.*2

In 1528, it became the capital of the Viceroyalty of New Spain.

Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821.

*(www.ciudadmexico.com.mx/historia.htm).

*2 María Teresa Jaarquín and Carlos Herrejon Peredo. Breve Historia del Estado de México. http://bibliotecadigital.ilce.edu.mx/sites/estados/libros/edomex/html/sec_18.html.

Brief History Of Mexico City*

1910: Mexican Revolution: end of latifundios and distribution of ejido land 1940:

The city’s economy benefitted from migration from the countryside. Irregular settlements increased. City inhabitants: one million.

*(http://www.ciudadmexico.com.mx/historia.htm)

Demographics*2010: 112 million

people nationwide (estimate for 2014: 120 million)*2

2013: Mexico City: 9 million

inhabitants

The metropolitan area, however, is much larger: 21.2 million inhabitants, making Mexico City the largest in the Western Hemisphere.

*(World Population Review. worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/mexico-city-population/).

*2CIA WORLD FACTBOOK. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mx.html.

Source: A.G. Aguilar, P.M Ward. Globalization, regional development, and mega-city expansion in Latin America. 2003, p. 4.

INEGI. www.cuentame.inegi.org.mx/monografias/informacion/df/poblacion/.

Demographics*Urban migration has slowed and, today, natural growth

is the main reason the city’s population has increased.

The population is estimated to reach 23 million by 2020.

*(World Population Review. http://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/mexico-city-population/).

CONEVAL Definition of PovertyPoverty. A person is living in poverty when he/she

displays at least one social deficit (for the six indicators: education, access to health care, access to social security, housing quality, basic services at home, and access to food) and his/her income is insufficient for acquiring the goods and services required to satisfy his/her food and non-food needs.

Extreme poverty. A person is living in extreme poverty when he/she experiences three or more social deficits, out of the six possible included on the Index of Social Deprivation, and in addition, is under the line of minimum well-being. Persons in this situation have an income so low that, even if they used it all for purchasing food, they would not have the nutrients needed for a healthy life.

*CONEVAL Informe de pobreza y evaluación en el Distrito Federal. Mexico City, 2012, p. 14.

Poverty in Mexico City*

In 2010, 28.7 percent of the population of Mexico City lived in poverty: 2 525 792 persons of the total population of 8 797 084 experienced at least one social deficit and did not have enough income to satisfy their basic needs.

The poor population residing in the boroughs on the next image makes up 59.5 percent of the total population living in poverty in the city.

*CONEVAL Informe de pobreza y evaluación en el Distrito Federal. Mexico City, 2012, p. 14.

Source: MORA Vázquez Teresa. Los pueblos originarios de la Ciudad de México atlas etnográfico, 2007, p. 35.

Poverty and Access to Food*

*SEDESOL. Informe Anual Sobre la Situación de Pobreza y Rezago Social. México, 2013. Pág. 1

• In 2012, the rate of deprivation due to lack of access to food was 13 percent (1 157 500 people).

Food Supply in Mexico City*Food is distributed in Mexico City by large

wholesale merchants located in the old Merced Central Market and today in the Supply Center (Ceda), the two of which constitute the central axis of the urban food supply and distribution.

Almost all the food consumed in the city passes through these two markets.

The central markets are very large, complex commercial and socio-economic mechanisms.

*Fernando Rello. “El abasto de frutas y legumbres en México,” Comercio Exterior vol. 39, no. 9. Mexico City, September1989, pp. 792-795.

Food Supply in Mexico City*

Food products reach consumers in five main ways:

1) Public markets

2) Semi-permanent “markets on wheels” (tianguis)

3) Traditional family owned neighborhood stores

4) Specialized stores (fruit and vegetable stores)

5) Supermarkets

* Rita Schwentisius Rindermann and Manuel Ángel Cruz. “Supermercados y pequeños productores hortofrutícolas en México” en Comercio Exterior, vol. 56,

no. 3, March 2006, Mexico City, p. 207.

Supply Center* Almost all the fruit and

vegetables consumed in the city come through the Ceda.

The 15 most important products represent 75 percent of the volume that passes through this center: oranges, bananas, tomatoes, potatoes, mandarine oranges, onions, tomatillos, papayas, limes, chili peppers, apples, avocados, ears of maize, carrots, and ornamental flowers.

The center covers 327 hectares and is the world’s largest wholesale market, followed by the Rungis International Market in France with 232 hectares, and the Madrid Market with 176 hectares.

*FIDEICOMISO para la construcción y operación de la Central de Abasto de la Ciudad de México. El Mercaso Mayorista Más Grande del Mundo. Mexico City. 2000, p. 8.

Every day, 350 000 visitors do business here, and at special times of the year like Holy Week, the Day of the Dead, and Christmas, the number jumps to 500 000.

Every day, 2 000 trailer trucks, 150 trucks, and 57,000 vehicles load and unload products.

Products from 24 different states of Mexico are sold in this market, which means that national produce prices are also established here.

Supply Center (Ceda)*

Urban Agriculture* The work force employed in agriculture and livestock production in Mexico City

numbers

16 000, laboring in 11 543 family production units.

About 22 800 hectares of land is under cultivation, concentrated mostly in the southern part of the city.

They produce corn, fruit, and vegetables and raise animals for family consumption and sale locally; however, nopal cactus and vegetables are also produced on a larger scale.

Despite the fact that the Federal District is the country’s main producer of nopal and romeritos, an estimated 80 percent of the food consumed in the city comes from other states or is imported.

Nopal cactus is cultivated on 4 300 hectares, more than 90 percent on land in continual production, mainly in the borough of Milpa Alta. Approximately 6 650 head of cattle, 30 000 pigs, 10 000 sheep, and 220 000 barnyard fowl are also raised in the Federal District.

*Urban and Peri Urban Agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean. Mexico City. 2012 http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/greenercities/en/GGCLAC/mexico_city.html)..

Urban Agriculture Despite the constant pressure from the urban sprawl, agriculture has

managed to survive in Mexico City thanks to farmers’ constant adaptation and innovation. For example, the nopal cactus has replaced maize as the main crop on the hillsides of Milpa Alta, and flowers are now cultivated in greenhouses located on the ancient floating gardens,

known as chinampas.

The chinampa system still prevails, usually measuring 1 hectare or less. These areas generally use treated water for irrigating vegetables, maize, and ornamental plants.

*Urban and Peri Urban Agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean. Mexico City. 2012 www.fao.org/ag/agp/greenercities/en/GGCLAC/mexico_city.html).

Bibliography AGUILAR, A.G., and P.M Ward. Globalization, regional development, and mega-city expansion in Latin America.

2003.

CIA WORLD FACTBOOK. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mx.html.

Ciudad de México. Historia de la Ciudad de México. (http://www.ciudadmexico.com.mx/historia.htm).

CONEVAL Informe de pobreza y evaluación en el Distrito Federal. Mexico City, 2012.

FAO México. Urban and Peri Urban Agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean. Mexico City. 2012, ww.fao.org/ag/agp/greenercities/en/GGCLAC/mexico_city.html.

FIDEICOMISO para la construcción y operación de la Central de Abasto de la Ciudad de México. El Mercado Mayorista Más Grande del Mundo. Mexico City, 2000.

JARQUÍN María Teresa, and Carlos Herrejon Peredo. Breve Historia del Esado de México. http://bibliotecadigital.ilce.edu.mx/sites/estados/libros/edomex/html/sec_18.html.

MORA Vázquez Teresa. Los pueblos originarios de la Ciudad de México atlas etnográfico, Mexico City, 2007.

RELLO Fernando. “El abasto de frutas y legumbres en México,” in Comercio Exterior, vol. 39, no. 9. Mexico City, September 1989.

SCHWENTISIUS Rindermann Rita, amd Manuel Ángel Cruz. “Supermercados y pequeños productores hortofrutícolas en México,” in Comercio Exterior, vol. 56, no. 3, March 2006, Mexico City.

SEDESOL. Informe Anual Sobre la Situación de Pobreza y Rezago Social. Mexico City, 2013.

World Population Review. worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/mexico-city-population.

Thank You!

¡Muchas gracias!