Base Document
Metropolitan Area of Monterrey, Mexico
December 2, 2008
Housing Policy for the Innerburbs
Dr. Peter Ward
Christeen Pusch
Maria Garcia
Hadyn Kihm
Cristina Saborio Sergio Cabrera
Sabina Mora
Dana Stovall
Table of Contents
- Recent History 1950s-2000s……………………………………………………………………...………….……3
- Population Growth and Demography……………………………………………………………………………..5
- Economic Variables……………………………………………………………………...………...10
- Government Structure…………………………………………………………………...………….13
- Social and Community Development Issues……………………………………………………………….……………………18
- Housing Structure and Patterns of Land and Housing Development……………………………………………………………………...…..26
- Urban Expansion……………………………………………………………………………..35
- Bibliography……………………..………………………………...………………....38
- Appendix………………………………………………………………………..……...39
- RECENT HISTORY 1950s-2000s
In 1950 Monterrey’s population was 339,282 inhabitants (Table 1.1), representing 45.8% of the total state population of Nuevo Leon. This urbanization of the state population was mainly based on the displacement of immigrants who were seeking better living conditions in the city. The urban growth spread approximately in 6,467 hectares including municipalities such as San Pedro, San Nicolas, Guadalupe, Escobedo, Santa Catarina and Apodaca. Twelve percent of the urban area was dedicated to industrial activities and there were more than 750 industries. In that year, 46% of Monterrey’s economically active population was employed in the manufacturing sector. Currently, the manufacturing sector employs only 26.9 % of the economically active population.
Figure 1.1
Source: INEGI
Figure 1.2
Source: INEGI
Between 1950 and 1979 Monterrey’s population more than doubled (Figure 1.2). This accelerated expansion, produced housing and land demands that the city was not able to face. Monterrey’s expansion represented economic development for some, but poverty for others. In 1965 52.1 % of the total population was considered poor. In 1970 social movements arose inspired by the population’s difficult economic conditions and by the governments’ limitations in resolving the situation. The most important of those movements was “Tierra y Libertad”. The goal of this group was to illegally appropriate lands. Irregular settlements such as Mártires de San Cosme, Mártires de Tlatelolco and Genaro Vázquez Rojas resulted from these invasions. The government responded to these demands by creating FOMERREY, Metropolitan Monterrey’s Foment, in order to support land legalization.
In 1984 the Monterrey Metropolitan Area- MMA was created. MMA initially included the municipalities of Monterrey, Guadalupe, San Nicolás, San Pedro, Santa Catarina, Escobedo, Apodaca; García and Juárez were more recently included. The total MMA population was 2,011,936 inhabitants, which corresponded to 80% of the total State of NuevoLeon population.
By 1990s Monterrey’s metropolization was a fact. With a population of 2,573,527 inhabitants, the automobile became the main transportation mode. By 2000 MMA population was more than 3 million. Currently MMA provides a high standard of living to its residents and is considered one of the most developed regions within the country.
- POPULATION GROWTH AND DEMOGRAPHY
Since the end of 1970s, the metropolization of Monterrey city brought about important changes. One of them was the urbanization of the population in municipalities that previously had an important rural component. From 1970s to 1990s the Monterrey Metropolitan Area (MMA) becomes almost completely urban (Table 2.1). This urbanization process is important especially in municipalities such as Escobedo and Apocada, where in 30 years, the areas considered as urban conformed only 30%, while at the end of 1990s these municipalities became almost entirely urbanized, with 98, 7 and 98.1% respectively of urban population. However, inthe mid-1990s municipalities such as Garcia and Juarez still had a relatively significant rural population (14.2% and 21.4% respectively) that based on the urbanization trends, these percentages will tend to shrink. As a consequence of this urbanization, in 1995 less than 5 percent of the MMA population lived in rural areas compared with 25 percent in the national level. This is an important trend when consider that poverty levels have historically been higher in rural than in urban areas. In 2002 for example, the extreme poverty line was 35.23% in rural areas, while it was 7.5% in urban areas; in the national level 14.4 of households were in extreme poverty.
Table 2.1
Urban Population in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area
1950 / 1960 / 1970 / 1980 / 1990 / 1995MMA / 32.8 / 46.1 / 58.2 / 86.4 / 94.8 / 95.6
Apocada / 30.5 / 69.2 / 94.8 / 98.1
Escobedo / 27.6 / 72.8 / 98.8 / 98.7
Garcia / 49.7 / 73 / 74.8 / 85.8
Guadalupe / 82.4 / 85 / 71.9 / 100 / 100 / 100
Juarez / 64.8 / 86.1 / 78.6
Monterrey / 98.3 / 99.3 / 100 / 99.5 / 100 / 100
San Nicolas / 63.2 / 74.8 / 79.9 / 100 / 100 / 100
San Pedro / 50.9 / 75.9 / 82.3 / 100 / 99.8 / 99.6
Santa Catarina / 0 / 80.3 / 81.5 / 98 / 99.3 / 99.5
Source: INEGI. Prepared by CADSE
The urbanization process has resulted in a higher concentration of Nuevo Leon population in the MMA. While the MMA inhabitants represented 52.6% of the total state in 1950s, in 2000s this percentage increased to 84.6% (Table 2.2). In this regard, the majority of the municipalities increased its participation in the total population of the state. Guadalupe has the highest increase, augmenting from 3.2% in 1950s to 20.7% in 2000s; however, this growing process started to slightly decline since the mid-1990s. A relevant change is the de-concentration of the state population in Monterrey city. While in 1950s this city represented 87.1% of the state population, this share declined to 34.3% in 2000s. This trend shows that Monterrey city is growing more slowly compared to the other municipalities. San Nicolas and San Pedro are other municipalities where growth has slightly decreased. As a consequence of the decrease in importance of some municipalities, in 2000s MMA shows a relatively well distributed population. However, according to density levels (Figure 2.1), there are higher levels of population concentrated in San Nicolas (5,709) and Guadalupe (4,420), and very low ones in Juarez (238), Santa Catarina (230), and Garcia (33). As a consequence of this high density, currently 70.2% of the total MMA population is concentrated in Monterrey (34.2%) Guadalupe (20.7%) and San Nicolas (15.3%)
Table 2.2
Share of the Population Compared with the State Level
Total Nueva Leon/ MMA / 52.6% / 67.1% / 74.0% / 80.1% / 83.1% / 84.2% / 84.6%
Apocada / 1.3% / 0.9% / 1.5% / 1.8% / 4.5% / 7.3% / 8.7%
Escobedo / 0.5% / 0.3% / 0.8% / 1.9% / 3.8% / 5.9% / 7.2%
Garcia / 1.2% / 0.6% / 0.5% / 0.5% / 0.5% / 0.8% / 0.9%
Guadalupe / 3.2% / 5.3% / 12.7% / 18.4% / 20.8% / 20.7% / 20.7%
Juarez / 0.7% / 0.4% / 0.5% / 0.7% / 1.1% / 1.7% / 2.1%
Monterrey / 87.1% / 83.1% / 68.4% / 54.2% / 41.5% / 36.4% / 34.3%
San Nicolas / 2.7% / 5.7% / 9.0% / 14.0% / 17.0% / 16.3% / 15.3%
San Pedro / 1.3% / 2.1% / 3.7% / 4.1% / 4.4% / 4.0% / 3.9%
Santa Catarina / 1.9% / 1.8% / 2.9% / 4.4% / 6.4% / 6.8% / 7.0%
Total AMM / 100.0% / 100.0% / 100.0% / 100.0% / 100.0% / 100.0% / 100.0%
Figure 2.1
Prepared by CADSE and CEDEM
Density levels are somehow related to economic trends; that is, people tend to concentrate in the mucipalities that offer better life conditions and more employment opportunities. In this sense, Garcia, Apocada and Escobedo, municipalities with relative medium or low population density (Table 2.3), present the highest percentage of the population who earn either popular or low income (70.4%, 69.7 and 68.4% respectively). On the other hand, San Pedro and San Nicolas cluster the population with the highest income; thus 50,2% and 49,4 of the population earn either medium or high income. Monterrey is the third municipality with the highest income, with 42% of the population earning medium or high income.
Table 2.3
Income Distribution MMA -2000
Popular / Low / Medium / HighMunicipality / Less 2 MW / 2 to 5.5 MW / 5.6 to 8 MW / 8 to 26 MW / 27 to 65 MW / More 65 MW
MMA / 3.7 / 39.9 / 18.4 / 16.5 / 11.1 / 10.6
Apodaca / 5.3 / 44.4 / 20 / 16.3 / 9.5 / 4.6
Escobedo / 2.4 / 45.7 / 20.3 / 17.2 / 10 / 4.4
García / 5 / 46.2 / 19.2 / 18.5 / 7.6 / 3.5
Guadalupe / 3.2 / 40.9 / 17.5 / 16.7 / 12.4 / 9.8
Juárez / - / - / - / - / - / -
Monterrey / 3.7 / 38 / 16.2 / 16 / 12.6 / 13.4
San Nicolás / 2.1 / 31.6 / 16.9 / 18.8 / 16.2 / 14.4
San Pedro / 2.4 / 31 / 16.4 / 11.2 / 9.6 / 29.4
Santa Catarina / 5.1 / 41.6 / 20.4 / 17.2 / 10.5 / 5.2
Prepared by: CADSE and CEDEM
The distribution of the population according to socio-economic strata depicts a clearer picture of the differences between municipalities. Apocada, Escobedo and Juarez are the municipalities that concentrate the population within the lowest socio-economic strata (Table 2.4). In Juarez, for example, almost 90% of the population is concentrated within the low strata. On the other hand, almost 50% of the population in San Pedro belongs to high strata. This concentration of low income and socio-economic strata has resulted in an increase of the Gini coefficient from 0.41 in 1965 to 0.4846 in 1994, which means that income inequality is becoming progressively higher in the MMA
Table 2.4
Distribution of the population according to socio-economic strata
TotalPopulation / Marginal / Low / Medium low / Medium high / High
Total MMA / 100 / 2.37 / 37.38 / 48.96 / 8.05 / 2.61
Apodaca / 100 / 0.06 / 64.06 / 35.88 / 0 / 0
Escobedo / 100 / 4.55 / 41.5 / 53.95 / 0 / 0
García / 100 / 0.28 / 19.35 / 80.37 / 0 / 0
Guadalupe / 100 / 5.34 / 36.94 / 51.38 / 6.27 / 0.07
Juárez / 100 / 0.07 / 85.24 / 14.7 / 0 / 0
Monterrey / 100 / 2.23 / 7.71 / 64.31 / 23.81 / 1.94
San Nicolas / 100 / 0 / 14.5 / 81.65 / 3.85 / 0
San Pedro / 100 / 0 / 16.74 / 29.46 / 5.58 / 48.22
Santa Catarina / 100 / 8.45 / 38.9 / 52.65 / 0 / 0
Finally changes in the population show a trend toward the demographic transition. The MMA faces a relative aging of the population, which is expressed in the reduction of children under 14 years old from 41,4% in 1980 to 29,8% in 2000, there is also an increase in the populations that are 65 years old or over from 3.3% to 4.4% in the same decades. In addition, the drop of the fecundity rate from 47.3 in 1960 to 26.2 in 1990, the reduction in the reproduction rate from 1.064 to 1.058, and the increase on the average age of mothers at first birthfrom 26.64 to 27.04, influenced the tendency toward aging. Also, the median age of the population in the MMA is 24, 2 years old, two years more than the national median age. This demographic transition has spurred women’s integration into the labor markets, because it has expanded the working population. Changes in the population have also increased the diversity of household compositions (i.e. female headed households), increasing the economic vulnerability of families.
- ECONOMIC VARIABLES
Principal Economic Activities
Monterrey is one of the most important cities in Mexico in terms of business and industrial growth and income. Important sectors in Monterrey include iron and steel manufacturing, cement, glass, and auto parts. Mexico’s steel industry is centered in Monterrey, where it began over a century ago and still makes 50% of the country’s steel. The city has also benefited from its position close to the border with the United States, and manufacturing in the region makes up 30% of Mexico’s exports. Global corporations such as Coca-Cola and Cemex have located in Monterrey over other Mexican or Latin American cities because of the quality of life, ease of conducting business, and access to an educated population with a relatively high standard of living. The Área Metropolitana de Monterrey (made up by the municipalities of Apodaca, Escobedo, García, Guadalupe, Juárez, Monterrey, San Nicolás, San Pedro and Santa Catarina) accounts for 95% of the state of Nuevo Leon’s GDP. The prominence of Monterrey in the region is shown clearly in the GDP of Nuevo Leon, where the manufacturing, financial and banking, and tourism sectors are the largest contributors to the total product. (
Labor Markets and Employment
I was unable to find current data on employment rates in the AMM, but data available from INEGI shows the state of Nuevo Leon with an unemployment rate of the economically active population (age 14 years and older) varying between 4.15% and 6.2% between 2005-2008. This is higher than the national unemployment rate, which has fluctuated between 2.55% and 4.25% from 2006-2008 (
Figure 3.1 Unemployment by trimester, Nuevo Leon
Figure 3.2
Percentage Distribution of Income by Type in Mexico and AMM, 1994
Economic Inequality and Sources of Income
While Monterrey is considered one of the best cities in Mexico for doing business, the benefits generated by this designation have not been uniformly distributed across the city. Enormous growth and improvements in standard of living have been combined with increasing inequality and poverty rates. According to the Encuesta de Ingresos y Gastos de los Hogares Área Metropolitana de Monterrey (ENIGH-MTY), conducted in 1995, the total combined income of the lowest-earning 80% of the population of the metropolitan area of Monterrey is less than the combined earnings of the top 10%. Divided into deciles, the top decile earns 27 times the income of the bottom decile. However, Monterrey’s Gini Coefficient of 0.4938 demonstrates that the city is less unequal than Mexico overall, which has a Coefficient of 0.5187.
Wage Levels
Income is measured in Mexico in number of minimum wages. Using data from 1994, 40.9% of households in Monterrey received more than 8 minimum wages, a percentage that represents 79.3% of total income in the city. 36.3 % of households received 2-5 minimum wages which totals 10.3% of total income in the city, while 3.4% of households earned less than 2 minimum salaries, making up 0.5% of the city’s total income.
Residents report income from a variety of sources: The average resident’s income does not just come from a wage; only 86.4% of residents’ income comes from wages and of that, on average only 70% is a monetary wage (those in the upper deciles tend to earn a greater percentage of their wage in monetary form than those in lower deciles). The rest is made up from non-monetary employment benefits. Total income also includes sales of goods, rents collected on properties, gifts, and sources of capital such as loans.
Figure 3.3
Percentage of total income by type in AMM, 1994
According to the census, residents of Monterrey are more likely to make up the difference between income and wage by collecting rent on properties, making small business transactions, and earning remunerations from work such as taking on extra hours (Aviles, 7). These decisions are made based on level of income- those in the three lowest-earning deciles tend to primarily supplement their wages with remunerations, while those in the middle and upper deciles collect rent and engage in small business transactions
Figure 3.4
Percentage of each type of income by household decile AMM, 1994
- GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE FOR THE METROPOLITAN AREA OF MONTERREY (AMM)
The city of Monterrey, like other Mexican cities, is divided into three levels of jurisdiction and government; Federal, State,[1] and Municipal.[2]
The central purpose of this section is to briefly analyze the main characteristics, origins, and structures of the federal, state, and municipal governments, as well as the form in which they influence the socio-political context of the AMM.
The Structure of the Federal Government
The political Constitution of Mexico indicates in Article 40 that the government is to be representative, democratic, and federal. The form of democracy is representative, meaning that the people do not directly exert government powers, but elect representatives to do so. The Constitution calls for a direct election of the members of Congress and the President of the Republic. At the state level, diverse positions such as Governors, Municipal Presidents and Local Deputies, are also elected directly. The same occurs in the Federal District to designate assembly members and head of government (Art. 40 y 122 of the Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos, 1997).
The first paragraph of Article 49 of the Constitution of Mexico establishes that the Supreme Power of the Federation is divided among the Legislative Power, Executive Power, and Judicial Power. The first, the Legislative Power, is exerted in the Congress of the Union, composed of the House of Senators and House of Deputies. The President of the Republic, who has at his charge 18 Secretaries of State as well as the District Attorney General of the Republic, holds the Executive Power. The Juridical Power is the exerted by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, the Associated Courts of Circuit, the Unitary Courts of Circuit, the Courts of District, and the Electoral Court.
State Government of Nuevo Leon
The NuevoLeonState, divided in 51 municipalities, is acknowledged by the National Mexican Constitution as a state- member of the Mexican confederation. This acknowledgement gives faculties and obligations to the state. The state has legislative and judicial powers. Congress, formed by 26 deputies who are elected every three years has the legislative power of the state.
The legislative power is executed by the Supreme Court of Justice. The magistrates of the Court can legislate up to 20 years; on the other hand, the President of the Court is elected every two years.
The State’s Executive Branch
The executive power is held by the citizen who holds the title of Governor of the State. The position of Governor lasts for the duration of the 6-year term beginning on October 4 of the election year without the possibility of reelection. The Governor is in charge and responsible for the centralized Public Administration of the State of Nuevo León. As stated in the local Constitution as well as the Ley Orgánica of the State’s Public Administration, the administrative tasks are distributed amongst the Secretariats and Procuraduría General de Justicia which define the basis for and creation of parastatal entities and define what role the executive will have in these. The public administration of Nuevo León is comprised of the General Secretariat of the State, of Finances and Accountability, of the Comptroller, of Education, of Health, of Economic Development, and of Urban Development and Public Works. The Secretariat of Human Development and Employment emerged as a fusion between the Secretariats of Social Development and the Secretariat of Employment. Under the administration of Fernando Canales Clariond, the Jefatura de la Oficina del Governador, which is involved in the staffing functions of the consultation and social communication personnel, was established.
Moreover, six separate decentralized or parastatal public organisms function within the sphere of the executive. The Fideicomiso for the Development of the North (FIDENOR) is the entity in charge of the promotion and development of the northern municipalities; what is more, FIDENOR administers Nuevo Leon’s only international bridge, the Puente Internacional Colombia. An entity of fundamental importance is the Water and Drainage Services of Monterrey, which administers sewage services in the state as well as develops the water utility infrastructure. Moreover, Fomnento Metropolitano de Monterrey (FOMERREY) is in charge of urban social housing planning for low income families. The System for the Integral Development of the Family (DIF) is a decentralized entity that provides social services to the youth, elderly, and disabled. Other parastatal entities are Verde-Simeprodeso and Monterrey. The former administers solid waste processing plants while the latter is in charge of administering the public transportation system “Metro” for the Monterrey metropolitan area.
Municipal Government
As we previously mentioned, the AMM is made up of nine municipalities, each with its own separate administrative structure in charge of urban issues such as public transportation, roads, safety and police, waste management and other local services. Coordination between municipalities is limited and primarily administered by the State Government of Nuevo Leon. The State Government corrdinates policies between municipalities in narrow and specific areas resulting in a lack of effective coordinated policy between municipalities.
The lack of coordinated governance between the municipalities is rooted in the Federal Mexican Constitution. Article 115 of the Federal Constitution states that “each municipality shall be governed by a directly elected body; the powers of the elected body extended by the Constitution are exclusively delegated to that body and there will be no intermediary governing body between municipality and the State.” There is an explicit prohibition that eliminates the possibility of a governing body made up of several municipalities. Some examples of such intermediary bodies in other countries are County level government in the United States. Although a coordinated governing body cannot exist, article 115 does allow the municipalities to create agreements for more efficient administration of their respective subunits.