ABSTRACT
Mexico Megacity may be a milestone from a comparative perspective in increasing knowledge about one developing world megacity and offering analytical tools to study others. This chapter explores population dimensions, some of which contribute to the view of calamitous and pathological development. It traces historical population growth of Mexico City, elaborates upon its being a primate city, examines various dimensions of its contemporary population, also explores recent developments in the deconcentration of its central population, and presents a cluster analysis of some basic population dimensions. Population characteristics examined by small area include population size, population growth, density, age structure, and sex ratio. Cuauhtemoc and Nezahualcoyotl summarize many aspects of the population transformation of Mexico Megacity since mid-century. Growth in periphery expansion rings is emphasized by considering the historical growth of Mexico Megacity's most populated areas in 1990 of Gustavo Madero and Iztapalapa, in the eastern Federal District, and Nezahualcoyotl and Ecatepec in the State of Mexico.
