ABSTRACT
This chapter assesses the adequacy of the picture provided by the conventional measures. It discusses what changes are needed in order to provide a sound basis for monitoring and analyzes the evolution of Mexico's urban system. The chapter also discusses the definitional challenge posed by the growth of metropolitan areas arising from accelerating urban decentralization. It considers the implications of the emergence of a polynuclear 'megalopolis' in the central region dominated by Mexico City. Certainly clear is Mexico's transformation from a rural society to a mainly urban one, as the evolution of its pattern of cities from a highly primate urban hierarchy towards a polycentric one with Mexico City's megalopolis as its core. In a rapidly evolving planetary-scale market, the cities, metropoles, megalopolises and polycentric urban regions of all nations are increasingly competing with each other in order to attract the most dynamic and high-tech industries.
