Metropolitan Transformation and

Polycentric Structure in Mexico City.

Identification of Urban Subcenters,
1989-2009

Adrian Guillermo Aguilar

and
Josefina Hernández Lozano
Institute of Geography, UNAM

IGU Urban Commission Meeting, 14-20 August 2011,

Canterbury U.K.
Main Questions:
 To what extent the metropolitan space of Mexico
City presents a policentric structure regarding the
spatial distribution of employment?

 What are the main changes on spatial patterns of

urban subcenters in the period 1989-2009?

 What are the differences in the spatial dynamic

by economic sectors?

 What areas are winning or losing jobs and what

factors seem to explain that situation?
 I. Policentrism and Metropolitan
Transformation
The spatial dynamic indicates a movement
of activities from the city center to the
periphery that tends to form a
“concentrated deconcentration” pattern.
Urban subcenters function as nodes
articulating space with a relevant
employment density and concentration.
The urban form of the new clusters change
the landscape: corridors, compact
subcenters, dispersed activities areas,
high rise buldings, etc.
 Agglomeration economies play a
fundamenal role. The benefits of being close
to other activities creates a cluster of
bussiness activities that favour each other.
 A main difficulty is to define a threshold that
indicates a significative number of jobs to
constitute a subcenter.
 The traditional CBD normally is still very
important. This is valid particularly for
activities that need “face to face” contact:
financial, commercial, public administration.
 II. Urban Expansion in Mexico City.
Recent Trends
 A depopulation of the city center with a
dominant tertiarization. A revitalization
around: new housing, corporate offices,
tourism, commercial activities, etc.
 A deindustrialization of urban economy with
manufacturing spreading towards peripheral
locations.
 Peripheral expansion with high population
growth rates, but low and very dispersed
employment concentrations.
 Figure 2. ZMCM: Employment Growth by Metropolitan Rings, 1989-
2009
14.00

12.00

10.00

8.00
Growth Rates

6.00 COMMERCE
MANUFACTURING
4.00
SERVICES
POPULATION
2.00

0.00
Central City First Second Third Fourth
-2.00

-4.00
Metropolitan Rings
 Figure 1. ZMCM: Employment Growth by Metropolitan Rings,
1989-2009
700,000

600,000

500,000

400,000
Employment

300,000

200,000

100,000

0
CENTRAL CITY FIRST SECOND THIRD FOURTH
-100,000

-200,000
Metropolitan Rings

COMMERCE SERVICES MANUFACTURING

 III. Identification of Urban Subcenters

 The Economic Census was used in the period 1989-

2009; the spatial unit used was the basic geostatistical
area (AGEB); data were processed for economic
sectors and subsectors.

 To identify urban subcenters a double threshold method

was selected. The AGEBs classified as urban
subcenters had to comply to the following criteria:

- A concentration of employment superior to the city

mean, plus a standard deviation.
 The Central Business District

 In the period this area concentrated the

highest number of subcenters and
employment in the city (45%).
 The presence of services is outstanding
in this zone. Employment on services
predominates in 66% of the subcenters.
 Commercial activities show a slow
growth; and manufacturing continues to
move away from the central city.
 The First Ring
 The first ring had a constant increase of
employment, with 41% of all the
employment of the identified subcenters.
 This ring has the most important
concentration of manufacturing
employment in the city.
 A marked dispersion trend of services
employment to the south of the ring is
relevant: Periferico Sur, Insurgentes Ave.
Santa Fe.
Santa Fe
 The Second Ring

 Employment in the second ring also has

an increasing trend, but only contains
10% of all jobs in the city.
 Manufacturing jobs predominate in
number, and subcenters show stability in
the north of the city.
 Service and commercial activities show a
similar number but a slow concentration.
Tultitlán Vía Morelos
Plaza Chalco
 Figure 4. Mexico City Subcenters: Employment Difference by
Metropolitan Rings, 1989-2009
500,000

400,000

300,000
EMPLOYMENT

200,000

100,000

0
COMMERCE

COMMERCE

COMMERCE

COMMERCE
SERVICES

SERVICES

COMERCIO

SERVICIO

SERVICES

SERVICES
MANUFACTURA
MANUFACTURING

MANUFACTURING

MANUFACTURING

MANUFACTURING
-100,000

-200,000
CENTRAL CITY FIRST SECOND THIRD FOURTH
SECTORS AND METROPOLITAN RINGS
 ZMCM: Main Subsectors in Subcenters, 2009

MANUFACTURING TOTAL %
325 Chemical Industry 68,650 17.46
311 Food Industry 57,335 14.58
326 Plastic and Rubber Industry 33,580 8.54
TOTAL 393,230 40.58

SERVICES TOTAL %
561 Services Supporting Businesses 461,314 43.51
541 Professional, Scientific and Technical Services 156,251 14.74
722 Services to Prepare Food Beverages 117,110 11.05
TOTAL 1,060,150 69.30

COMMERCE TOTAL %
462 Retail in Supermarkets and Departamental Stores 64,187 14.05
Retail of Textiles, Jewellery, Clothes and Shoes
463 Products 58,055 12.71
461 Retail of Groceries, Food, Beverage, Ice and Tobacco. 48,351 10.58
TOTAL 456,865 37.34
Torre Mayor
 Conclusions
 In the last 25 years there has been a
gradual formation of urban subcenters
with a “concentrated deconcentration” in
compact subcenters and corridors.
 However this structure is highly restricted:
it is relevant for the city center, 1st and
2nd rings. But in the 3rd and 4th rings the
presence of these subcenters is almost
unexistant.
 The central city is still the largest
concentration of employment (46%)
despite the loss of resident population.
 The central city shows a proliferation of
subcenters leading to spatial widening of the
concentration of activities with larger
subcenters.
 The city centrality of employment has
experienced a displacement towards the
western and southern zones, with larger areas
in each subcenter.
 The lack of important peripheral economic
concentrations shows a lack of balance and equity
in the distribution of jobs for the poorer
neighborhoods to the northern and eastern areas.