Case Study of Urbanization in an LEDC final

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Case Study of Urbanization in an LEDC:

Mexico City

*****

IB Geography Year 1

Mr. ******

October 20 2008


Background: Mexico

Mexico, officially known as the United Mexican States, is a federal constitutional republic in the North American Continent. As the world’s 15th largest country, Mexico covers nearly two million square kilometers of land. It is boarder by the United States to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the west, Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea to the South, and the Gulf of Mexico to the east. With a population of 100 million according to the 2008 state-estimate, Mexico is the world’s 11th largest nation by population and is the world’s largest Spanish-speaking nation. Mexico City is the one of the world’s most populous metropolitan area, and PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates that over 19.2 million people are living in Metropolitan Mexico. It is located in the Valley of Anáhuac at coordinates  west and is bounded by the state of Hidalgo to the north, Mexico state to the west, Tlaxacala and Puebla to the east, and Morelos to the south. Physically, it is surrounded by mountains on all four sides with only one small opening at the north. Mexico City is Mexico’s strongest economic hub and is the world’s eighth richest urban area with a Gross Domestic Product (at purchasing power parity) of $315 billion in 2005. Although Mexico City is home to some of the wealthiest people in the world and some areas have living standards resembling those of Germany and New Zealand, it is a newly industrialized city and there is an uneven distribution of wealth and security. Despite inequality and insecurity, thousands of Mexicans are still migrating to the capital annually in hopes of a better life, making Mexico city one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the world.


Mexico “Indicators” (Demographics/statistics):

The people:

Population:

107 million people (2007 est.)

Graph of population growth

        (Figure 1)

Birth/ death rate:

20.7 births per 1000 population

4.74 deaths per 1000 population

Life expectancy at birth:

total population: 75.84 years 
male: 73.05 years 
female: 78.78 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate

        1.16%

Literacy

        94%

HDI

        0.814

% urban

        75% (2008 est.)


Graph of percentage urban change over time:

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(Figure 2)

Economic indicators:

Per capita GDP

        $10,000

Unemployment rate

        3.70% (2007 est.)

Employment by economic sector        

(Figure 3)


Urbanization of Mexico City

Map of Mexico

Attached

Outline of the physical setting (and related issues)

Metropolitan Mexico City lies in the Valley of Anahuac below the Tropic of Cancer. It is surrounded by mountains on all four sides with only one small opening to the north. Two active volcanoes are located south east of the city. Because the region sits between mountain ranges, all the exhaust emission from cars ...

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