Fourteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

Urban as well as regional economic development model adopted by Mexico nowadays goes back to its industrialization process times during early twentieth century featuring a centralized type of economic development approach. Stemming from a colonial legacy of a centralist type of government located around the country’s major metropolitan area, Mexico City, as its neuralgical center of political and economic power in the country. Therefore, linking regional and urban growth along the country, to political decisions stemming from the center. Thus, economic growth coming from public and private investments towards countryside Mexico have been historically heavily influenced by private investors´ interests associated to the government class with total disregard to the myriad externalities generated in the country, such as socioeconomic costs, natural resources depletion, and environmental costs, growing inequality, poverty, violence, transculturization, and people’s idiosyncrasie - adverse implications concomitant to the globalization process within regions and major cities vis-á-vis the acquiescence of the Mexican State. There is a lack of responsibility to foster a sound balance between growth and social well-being among population. Under such context, this paper examines and contrasts the economic development of Mexico as a whole vis-a vis Mexico City, as its major urban area, as the foremost typical case of a non-sustainable and socially non-inclusive imbalance urban area in the country. The time horizon for this analysis is the period 1980-2017.