Urban segregation on a micro scale: the consequences for the low-income residents of a socioeconomically mixed neighborhood in Mexico city

ABSTRACT

The patterns of socio-spatial organization of differences have changed in Latin American cities, which has transformed the scale of urban segregation. This has led to an increase in socially mixed areas and poverty enclaves in neighborhoods that have attracted the interest of, both, public and private sectors. Although this phenomenon has been widely studied, the consequences for low-income inhabitants living in spaces that are undergoing urban renewal are not clear. This paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of the implications of these changes by exploring three features: access to social programs; changes in the use and appropriation of public space; and daily practices and the limits of urban sociability. The research method consisted of a qualitative analysis of secondary sources, fieldwork, and interviews. We conclude that the decrease of urban segregation scale affects not just the housing structure, but also access to social programs, public spaces, and urban sociability; these factors are a part of the material and symbolic rearrangements that allow groups with great socioeconomic differences to live close to one another.

KEYWORDS:

• Urban segregation
• urban mixture
• social exclusion
• Mexico city
• urban renewal

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) under Grant DGPA-PAPIIT IN305518 “Desarrollo geográfico desigual y violencia: un análisis a partir de la tematización del espacio público y las rentas de segregación;” and by Instituto Mora under the project “De ciudad diversa a ciudad adversa. Análisis de los procesos de exclusión social de poblaciones indígenas habitantes de la Ciudad de México.”

The author is thankful for the thoughtful comments and efforts of the reviewers toward improving the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. According to Lees (2008), policy language uses terms like “urban renaissance,” “urban revitalization,” “urban regeneration,” and “urban sustainability” instead of “gentrification” to neutralize the negative image that comes along with it.

2. Social exclusion can be defined as the processes that lead to the “weakening of the ties that maintain and define the condition of belonging in a society,” (p. 20) that are part of the economic and social restructuring and have a direct impact on the less favored groups (Saraví, 2006).

3. Illegal seizure was common in Coyoacán and elsewhere in the city. It was usually associated with the popular urban movement in the late eighties and early nineties, with a strong presence after the earthquake in 1986.

4. Government expropriation of land was a measure promoted during the nineties to regulate land tenure and improve conditions for dwellers living in houses obtained through illegal seizure or informal purchase. The expropriation was conducted by the Mayor of Mexico City’s official decree, that allowed purchases of property via eminent domain to fulfill a public interest, in this case, housing for low-income groups.

5. The expropriation decrees of the three plots were issued in 1997, 1999, and 2000, and published in the Official Journal of the Distrito Federal (the former name of Mexico City).

6. The measurement of poverty is obtained from the National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (CONEVAL, 2017).

7. Basic Geostatistical Areas (AGEB) are determined by National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI). An urban AGEB is a geographic area occupied by a set of blocks perfectly delimited by streets, avenues, walkways, or any other easily identifiable feature on the ground; its land use is mainly residential, industrial, services-oriented, commercial, etc., and it has a population greater than or equal to 2,500 inhabitants.

8. It should be noted that not all areas with low level of social development index are considered in the Mejoramiento Barrial Social program; this is because of the selection process carried out by Mexico City Secretariat of Inclusion and Social Welfare.

9. In 2015, a large-scale real estate project was announced. It consisted of two towers of 22 and 19 floors respectively, along with a shopping center, business center, ballroom, games room, shared roof garden, gym, and swimming pool; the prices varied between 134,500 and 245,000 USD. Information regarding the same was available at https://elite.mx/rosedal/(May24,2019); however, during 2020 the project was canceled and there is no information available online.

10. Information retrieved from http://ventadepartamentosnapoles.com/index.php/ultimos-departamentos/23-av-pacifico-312(May24,2019).

11. These prices are indicative; the information was retrieved from https://escuelas.chilango.com/colegio-charles-chaplin/ and https://escuelas.chilango.com/lord-bertrand-russell/ (May 30, 2019).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Dirección General de Asuntos del Personal Académico, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México [DGPA-PAPIIT IN305518].

Notes on contributors

Luisa Fernanda Rodríguez Cortés

Dra. Luisa Fernanda Rodríguez Cortés is a research associate at the Research Institute Dr. José María Luis Mora (Instituto Mora). She received a Ph.D. on Social Anthropology from the Center for Research and Superior Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS), México in 2012. She is a member of the Mexican National System of Researchers (SNI) since 2015. Her areas of interest and research are in social exclusion and segregation processes, urban citizenship and urban social movements in Mexico and Latin America. She has taken part in various multidisciplinary research, such as the project “A dynamic definition for México’s metropolitan areas”, funded by Mexican National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT). Recent publications are the coauthored book “Estudios Metropolitanos: actualidad y retos”, published by Instituto Mora, and the papers “Building Citizenship: The Struggle for Housing in Eastern Mexico City”, in Latin American Perspective and “Los que se quedan”. La renovación urbana como manifestación de la espacialización de la violencia en la Ciudad de México”, in URBS. Revista de Estudios Urbanos y Ciencias Sociales.