Who Are The New Inhabitants In Mexico City
Introduction
According to Szabo (2016), urbanization refers to the process through which people move from non-urbanized areas (rural areas) to urban areas such as towns and cities. Urbanization has become a common phenomenon that is being experienced across the world. Zhang, LeGates and Zhao (2016) emphasizes that urbanization leads to a significant transformation of the population structure within urban areas. In light of this view, this paper entails an analysis of the new inhabitants in Mexico City as a result of an increase in the rate of urbanization.
Analysis
Mexico City’s population has increased substantially over the past decades. By the end of 2016, the city’s population was estimated to be 21.2 million, which makes Mexico City to be the most populous city in the Western Hemisphere. It is further estimated that 75% of Mexico’s state population lives in Greater Mexico City (World Population Review 2017). One of the factors that have contributed to the rampant transformation of Mexico City entails an increase in the rate of urbanization. The city has experienced a remarkable increase in the number of Mexicans moving into the city, especially from the Southern and Central regions of Mexico (Contemporary Urbanization 2017). Currently, it is estimated that over 2,000 people arrive in Mexico City daily despite Mexico’s government’s effort to minimize urbanization by decentralizing industries and undertaking land reforms aimed at stimulating growth in rural areas (Contemporary Urbanization 2017).
Mexico City has become one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. The city’s population is not only comprised of local Mexicans but also immigrants and expatriates from different countries (Contemporary Urbanization 2017). A significant proportion of the city’s population is comprised of expatriates and immigrants from the United States, Canada, South America (Argentina and Colombia), Central America (El Salvador and Guatemala), and the Caribbean (Haiti and Cuba). Additionally, the City’s population is also made up of expatriates and immigrants from European countries such as Germany, Spain, Lebanon and Syria, China, and South Korea (World Population Review 2017). According to Patterson-Stein (2013), over 700,000 Americans who have immigrated to Mexico live in Mexico City.
Despite the increase in the city’s population, the structure of Mexico City’s population has remarkably changed. Findings of a study conducted by Mexico’s National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) show that the composition of the youth population in Mexico City declined to 25.5% in 2010 from 31.2 in 1995. This change has arisen from an increase in the rate of immigration among the youth into different countries, especially the US (Patterson-Stein 2013).
Conclusion
The analysis reveals that Mexico City’s population has changed substantially as a result of an increase in the rate of urbanization. Currently, the city’s population is made up of Mexicans, immigrants, and expatriates from different countries. This has made the city to be ranked as one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. In addition to the cosmopolitan characteristic of Mexico City, the structure of the city’s population has changed due to an increase in the rate of immigration of Mexican youths into the United States.
References
Contemporary Urbanization: Mexico City urban growth and urbanization 2017. [Online].
Patterson-Stein, J 2013, Mexico’s changing demographics in an era of reform. [Online].
Szabo, S 2016, Urbanization and inequalities in a post-Malthusian context; challenges for sustainable development agenda, Springer, Cham.
World Population Review: Mexico City population 2017.[Online].
Zhang, L, LeGates, R & Zhao, M 2016, Understanding China’s urbanization; the great demographic, spatial, economic, and social transformation, Edward Elgar Publishing, Cheltenham, UK.
