ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the specific impact that economic restructuring has had on Xalapa. Of particular concern will be the way in which the global forces of restructuring have been refracted through the city's and region's economic and political configuration. The chapter provides a brief outline of Xalapa's basic economic, demographic and urban characteristics. It then focuses on the impact of economic reform on the city, paying particular attention to the economy, the population and the built environment. The chapter concludes by examining the creation of Xalapa's land reserve, a large tract of land purchased by the state allegedly to provide access to low-cost land and housing for the city's working population. The process of the creation of this reserve clearly illustrates the economic and political forces at work that produced Xalapa's specific wounds as well as the differential ability to recover among the city's social classes.
