The peri-urban in Mexico: Identification and sociodemographic and territorial characterization

Abstract

Scientific production and territorial politics in Mexico have been built basically from the coun-try-city dichotomy. Consequently, peri-urban phenomena have not been clearly explained and the policies addressed at these spaces are not explicit or differentiated. This article aims to provi-de panoramic information on the peri-urban in Mexico. First, a method is proposed for the identification of the peri-urban based on the Shannon entropy index that measures the heterogeneity of land use. Second, we characterize the peri-urban space by demographic, social and territorial attributes. Finally, the study identifies four sociodemographic and territorial dimensions of the peri-urban space: 1) socio-occupational polarization, 2) the opposition between natural land and cultivated land, 3) urbanization as a built environment, and demographic dynamics, and 4) social marginalization and informal dwelling. These dimensions suggest differentiated simultaneous processes in the peri-urban space.