Close-of-the-Century Trends in Mexican Urbanization

Abstract

This article reviews the main characteristics of Mexican urban development during the eighties through the study of its spatial-demographic aspects and the changes in the space-sector structure of economy, and suggests a prospect of national urbanization for the nineties. To reach this goal the study makes use of papers on national economic evolution and theoretical aspects related to the process of urbanization. The main point is to illustrate and explain why the eighties can be considered a milestone in urban development, a new trend in Mexican urbanization which will consolidate during the nineties. This research is supported on a data bank created ex profeso with demographic and economic information on the 98 Mexican cities which in 1990 had a population of at least 50 thousand. This data bank also includes the circumscription and arrangement of 37 metropoli areas.