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Mexico City sits at a place which is very vulnerable to earthquakes. In 1985, the city was hit by an earthquake which measured 8.5 on the Richter scale killing 5000 people and damaging 100,000 buildings. Since 1995 the government has strengthened the building codes and the emergency system called SASMEX but these measures don’t extend beyond the tourist areas.
Residents build shelter with whatever materials they can find and afford, and they continue to struggle to gain access to water and electricity. For all the improvements in the last 30 years, 60% of the city is made up of these unregulated, informal and vulnerable zones. These areas are continuously growing due to Mexico City’s population growing from 13 million in 1980 to 22 million in 2019.
Four central districts account for 53% of jobs, but only 19% of the population, which creates Urban Sprawl where people have to travel from outlaying suburbs to places of work. One would think that the public transport would help with this but it hasn’t been kept pace with the increasing population. The subway which was built to accommodate 4.5 million people is now forced to accommodate 5.5 million people.
The government plans to invest 1.6 billion dollars to provide a cable car system built around the city’s outskirts and additional trains for the metro system. Many people who drive into the city are registered into other states, residents spend around 227 hours stuck in traffic every year which shows how congested the city actually is.
Mexico is also one of the most unequal countries of the world. One could see this nationwide inequality around the country. One could also notice the extent of Urban Sprawl.