ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the demographic and ecological aspects of urbanization of Mexico. It presents a brief introduction to Mexico City that sets the stage for more extensive analysis of contemporary Mexico Megacity. The chapter highlights the Mexican border cities and states, and linkages with the US. In the post-NAFTA era, border cities are key to development of free trade and maquila industry. The Revolutionary Era, beginning around 1910, engendered a mobile population and many refugees sought shelter in cities and towns. The chapter aims to briefly sketch historical population and urban growth in Mexico and analyze urbanization changes between 1950 and 1990. It describes the urban population in 1990, presents information on the 59 major cities in Mexico in 1990, discusses Consejo Nacional de Poblacion's (CONAPO's) system of cities model, and illustrates cities along the Mexican-US. The spatial distribution of large cities in Mexico corresponds to the pattern of urbanization shown on earlier maps.
