Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Despite decentralization efforts in Mexico during the late 20th century, federal and state-level policy has continued to supersede local governance. Local governments in Mexico have limited financial and institutional capacities and are seldom able to guide urban development and construction processes, for example. The result of this top down approach has sometimes been sprawling and unsustainable development patterns, particularly during the 2000s, when federal and several state governments backed large, peripheral housing developments. These developments placed a burden on local governments to provide adequate levels of infrastructure and services. More recently, however, the last federal administration advocated for densification strategies, including the implementation of Urban Growth Boundaries along 394 Mexican cities or towns with over 15,000 inhabitants – including 74 metropolitan areas. This paper highlights the experience of some of Mexico’s largest cities in the implementation of nationally mandated urban growth policies. In so doing, it also confirms a persistent challenge for Mexico’s large metropolitan areas – their fragmented governance conformed by the inclusion of multiple and disparate municipalities.