Snapshots of Mexico City
Prof. Silvia Núñez García
CISAN-UNAM
Prof. Valeria Marina Valle
CISAN-UNAM
February 2015
1
Content
 Location
 Brief History of Mexico City
 Demographics
 CONEVAL Definition of Poverty
 Poverty in Mexico City
 Poverty and Access to Food
 Food Supply in Mexico City
 Central Market
 Urban 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:
INEGI. www.cuentame.inegi.org.mx/monografias/informacion/df/poblacion/.
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/worldcities/mexico-city-population/).
*2CIA WORLD FACTBOOK.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/mx.html.
Source: A.G. Aguilar, P.M Ward. Globalization, regional development, and mega-city expansion in Latin America. 2003, p. 4.
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.
CONEVAL Definition of Poverty
 Poverty. 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.
Source: MORA Vázquez Teresa. Los pueblos originarios de la
Ciudad de México atlas etnográfico, 2007, p. 35.
Poverty and Access to Food*
• In 2012, the rate of deprivation due to lack of access to
food was 13 percent (1 157 500 people).
*SEDESOL. Informe Anual Sobre la Situación de Pobreza y Rezago Social. México, 2013. Pág. 1
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
 Almost all the fruit and vegetables
consumed in the city come
through the Ceda.
Supply Center*
 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.
Supply Center (Ceda)*
 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.
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
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
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.
in
Latin
America
Peredo.
Breve
and
the
Historia
Caribbean.
del
Mexico
Esado
City.
de
2012,
México.
Thank You!
¡Muchas
gracias!