Towards environmental sustainability in the metropolitan zone of Mexico City : indicators and projections to 2030

Abstract

This thesis develops quantitative indicators of environmental sustainability for Mexico City and its metropolitan zone of influence (MCMZ). These indicators of sustainability were developed by taking into account seven key variables for the urban environment: the water supply situation, air pollution, transportation and roads, energy, solid wastes, the housing supply and green areas. Based on these indicators and the history of the city's physical evolution since it was founded seven centuries ago, a desirable type of urban form is proposed, one in which there is a "decentralized concentration" which would allow Mexico City to approach sustainability in a time frame that concludes in or about the year 2030. Accordingly, the thesis proposes urban policy measures that, while addressing issues of sustainability, permit Mexico City to face the challenges of globalisation, which would entail transforming it into a "global city'' within a worldwide network of great cities. The urban policy and environmental measures that are recommended anticipate the largest economic, demographic and technological changes that will affect Mexico City, but are above all in harmony with the natural ecosystems of the elevated endorheic basin in which it lies. They do no call for a break with or the alteration of the city's natural landscape or its already constructed historical patrimony and, when possible, they presuppose a new sustainable hydraulic model, capable of restoring lakes and recharging the underground aquifer. Finally, a great deal of emphasis is placed on the recuperation of green areas in accordance with the basin's original natural vegetation.