The Access of Informal Segments of the Population to Land and Housing: The Case of Mexico City

Authors

  • Mayra Lazcano Martínez Sociedad Hipotecaria Federal

Abstract

The informal sectors in México City face great troubles in their attempt to become part of it. The high number of inhabitants concentrated in this mega city, unskilled workers, a global economy which does not include them and pushes them to informality and poverty as well as the lack of coordination between actors, keep the gap and the inaccessibility to land and housing. Land availability and land management are some of the key problems in the urban development of Mexico City. Due to its importance this paper devotes its first part to the main concepts on the topic and then it describes the laws dealing with land market in Mexico from a federal, state and county hall point of view, especially in the area of urban planning, land offer, transactions legal reliability and public services management. The main forms of land ownership in Mexico are also described. The third part shows the case of the Metropolitan area in Mexico Valley. The conclusions mention the main problems of its urban land market and how they lead to a lack of land availability. This in turn affects the efficient provision of housing and the growth of the cities since they do so without any plan and this of course influences the consolidation of human settlements.

Author Biography

Mayra Lazcano Martínez, Sociedad Hipotecaria Federal

Arquitecta mexicana, me desempeño en el ámbito público del Gobierno Federal de México, D.F. en la "Sociedad Hipotecaria Federal, S.N.C." (Sociedad Nacional de Crédito), como Banca de Desarrollo su objeto es impulsar el desarrollo de los mercados primario y secundario de crédito a la vivienda, mediante el otorgamiento de garantías destinadas a la construcción, adquisición y mejora de la vivienda, preferentemente de interés social; al incremento de la capacidad productiva y del desarrollo tecnológico relacionados con la vivienda; así como a los financiamientos relacionados con el equipamiento de conjuntos habitacionales. Mis funciones son como especialista en la Unidad de Estudios Económicos y de Vivienda de la Dirección General Adjunta de Planeación y Riesgos.