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W4-MexicoCity-II_CEP.pptx

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. The current population of Bosques del Pedregal is not marginal; it is productive and can be an active agent in technological de velopment. Furthermore, it is possible and necessary to conjoin productive development with ecological equilibrium, and in this way to generate a mode of urban development that does not provoke antagonism between these two factors.

2. The conservationist focus that the Tlalpan Ward has maintained conceives of Ajusco as a national park. But this conception dis associates the necessity of reforestation from the possibility of production. Given the demands on this space, it will be impos sible to maintain it as a greenbelt for consumption. Instead, it should be developed as a greenbelt for production.

3. Through community pilot projects-involving the operation and maintenance of appropriate technologies as well as the genera tion and distribution of resources-the auto-administrative capacity of the community can be elevated; so can its produc tive capacity. In terms of production, it is estimated that with an initial investment of roo million pesos (approximately U.S.

$qo,ooo), 340 jobs can be createdY

4· Promoting social experimentation in Bosques del Pedregal to ameliorate the problems in Ajusco is in the national interest. If the colonia ecol6gica productiva model is successful, it could ben efit others by way of example.

An Unsolved Challenge for Land-Use Policy

Informal settlements and urban policy in Latin America

One of the most dramatic manifestations of poverty conditions and inequalities in Latin American cities is the persistence and even increase of informal human settlements (IHSs). It was estimated that in 2005, there were 134 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean living in such settlements – this figure represented a bit more than 30% of the total urban population –, and that from 1990 to 2005 there was an increase of slightly more than 23 million people living in this type of settlement in the region (UN-HABITAT, 2006, Table 1.2.1).

Despite this growing number of inhabitants with illegal and precarious living conditions, land-use policies have been unable to find solutions for these settlements, and that has a direct repercussion on Latin American cities’ lack of social justice and environmental sustainability. Urban policies have generally failed to address the fundamental determinants of informality and have evidenced a lack of orientation for the purpose of mitigating the impacts of social and economic vulnerability among the urban poor and meeting their basic needs. (Aguilar, Adrian Guillermo and Clemencia Santos. 2011, p 649)

Aguilar, Adrian Guillermo and Clemencia Santos. 2011. "Informal settlements' needs and environmental conservation in Mexico City: An unsolved challenge for land-use policy." Land Use Policy 28:649-662.

“How do we reconcile the protection of ecological conservation areas and the needs of informal settlements in a peri-urban zone?”

The main contribution intended by the authors of this study is an analysis of what possible solutions local government can offer for a challenge that is currently most significant: how do we reconcile the protection of ecological conservation areas and the needs of informal settlements in a peri-urban zone? New urban development patterns should implement measures to cut local, regional, and global environmental costs and, therefore, are in need of effective policies for managing urban expansion.

Ecosystem Services

It has been reported that the city’s urbanized area increased from 1500km2 in 1990 to 1800km2 in the year 2000. Similarly, it has been estimated that average annual deforestation is between 240 and 500 ha in the Federal District due to illegal cutting, forest fires, irregular occupation, and changes in land use (Programa General de Desarrollo Urbano [published in the Official Gazette of the Federal District] 2003:8–9, 25). Given the urban pressure on the SC, the biological diversity existing in its ecosystems is severely threatened. This biodiversity includes over 1800 plant and animal species, as well as other natural resources which provide environmental services and goods to the Federal District, among which the following are particularly important: recharge of the aquifer from which 57% of the water consumed by the city is withdrawn; capture of suspended particles; carbon fixation and the production of oxygen thanks to the presence of wooded areas; the cultivation of agricultural products; ecotourism activities based on the scenery/landscape, all of which is essential for the sustainability of the whole city and the quality of life of its inhabitants. (p. 653)

Recent studies clearly reveal the magnitude of the problem of informal settlements. According to the Commission for Natural Resources and Rural Development (Comisión de Recursos Naturales y Desarrollo Rural, or CORENA), in the 1990s a total of 4796 ha of Conservation Land (SC) was lost due to the appearance of new settlements. From 2000 to 2001 alone, 213 ha of such land were lost because of occupation by informal settlements. Because of this, for every 100 ha that are urbanized, the aquifer loses an amount of water equivalent to that consumed by 2400 dwellings in a year (PAOTDF, 2003:7). At present, the Government of the Federal District itself admits that there are 846 IHSs throughout the SC (Secretaría del Medio Ambiente, 2007:25), the majority of which are concentrated in delegations such as Tlalpan and Xochimilco. (p. 654)

Ecosystem Services, cont.

Political mediation and the politics of containment

officials have evidenced tolerance towards informal occupations because they are unable to offer these groups affordable housing and land. Such tolerance indicates there is still interest in maintaining the clientalist system, which provides a short-term response to sociopolitical pressures exerted by the poor and their organizations, rather than ensuring a real determination to find imaginative, long-term solutions for an issue that is an essential part of the urbanization process.

Key Limitations

In the case of the Tlalpan Delegation, we found that the local government at this level is most concerned with sustainable urbanization, but lacks the capacity to confront this challenge.

Limitations include:

a lack of financial resources to tackle an issue of this magnitude;

local officials’ inability to curb informal urban expansion both due to their lack of authority to control the sale and subdivision of communal property because this is a federal matter,

local inability to supervise the entire SC and use the police to stop new building.

Continued land regularization in this delegation has been maintained as a corrective mechanism legalizing informal situations that the local government itself initiated and tolerated, a situation that now is encouraging new occupations.