Environment And Development In Mexico

This book provides an essential overview of sustainable development research in Mexico. It discusses the empirical research methods and findings, as well as practical initiatives and projects being pursued in Mexico and other countries in the region. Although a number of Mexican universities are now conducting high-quality research on matters related to sustainable development, there are few publications that offer a multidisciplinary overview of research efforts for a broader audience. This book addresses that gap in the literature, providing researchers at Mexican universities – including those from other countries working in Mexico – with an opportunity to present their work, i.e. curriculum innovations, empirical work, activities, case studies, and practical projects. As such, it fosters the exchange of information, ideas and experiences, successful initiatives and best practices.

In light of the power strategies in play in the new geopolitics of economic and ecological globalization, there is need for critical analysis of how the agenda of sustainable development is being conceived, shaped, and implemented. This volume considers issues of equity and development in the US-Mexico border region?and highlights the fact that regions at the juncture of the industrial and developing worlds most clearly illustrate the problems inherent in current economic paradigms. Jane Clough-Riquelme is a regional planner with the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG). Her work focuses on borders planning, including tribal liaison and binational and interregional planning with neighboring jurisdictions. Nora L. Bringas Rabago is research professor in the Department of Urban and Environmental Studies, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, in Tijuana.CONTENTS: Testing the Limits of Equity and Sustainable Development in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands?the Editors. The Johannesburg Summit: Implications for the Americas?E. Leff. Toward Sustainable Development in the U.S.-Mexico Border Region?J. Friedmann. Cross-Border Regionalism and Sustainability: Contributions of Critical Regional Ecology?K. Pezzoli. Rethinking Urban Ecologies: Cultural Barriers to Sustainable Development??L.A. Herzog. Urban Structure and Social Segregation in Tijuana?T. Alegria. Counting the Environment In: Considerations of the Risk of Hazardous Maquiladora Waste?K. Kopinak. Social Vulnerability and Disaster Risk in Tijuana: Preliminary Findings?N.L. Bringas R. and R.. Sanchez R.. Environment, Poverty, and Gender: Using and Managing Environmental Resources in a Tijuana Colonia?R. Gaxiola Aldama. Acquiring Knowledge and Improving Environmental Policy: A Binational Agenda for Civic Organizations?B. Verduzco Chavez. Environmental Justice and San Diego County Tribes?M.C. Miskwish. Youth and Educating for Sustainability on the Border: Imagining the Future Citizens of Baja California?A. Monsivais and L. Silvan. NGOs, Environment, and Gender in Tijuana?S. Lopez Estrada. Accessible Information Technology for Equitable Community Planning?A.H. Lam, L.M. Norman, and A.J. Donelson. Cross-Border Policy Collaboration in the San Diego?Tijuana Metropolitan Area: Where Do We Go from Here? ?J. Clough-Riquelme. Equity and Justice in Binational Environmental Policy?Stephen P. Mumme. Looking Ahead: Equity in the U.S.-Mexico Border?R.L. Bach.

In this highly acclaimed book, now available in paperback, Joel Simon vividly describes the environmental crises facing Mexico today, from the smog-choked shantytowns of Mexico City to the decaying coral reefs off the island of Cancun to rural villages impoverished by the overuse of chemical fertilizers that ruined the land. Deftly combining historical research with extensive personal interviews, Simon describes the failed development policies that have caused such environmental destruction and reveals the crucial links between Mexico's environmental pollution and the social anti economic problems that threaten its political stability. Richly detailed and provocatively argued, Endangered Mexico transforms our understanding of the challenges Mexico currently faces.

This interdisciplinary edited collection presents original analysis on Mexico's transition from the Millennium to the Sustainable Development Goals, departing from three main perspectives. In what areas did Mexico gain leverage and actually contribute to the debate around the proposed SDGs? What are the challenges for Mexico with regard to the SDGs? How to handle the issue of congruence/dissonance in Mexico's accomplishment of the MDGs in relation to the socioeconomic realities on the ground? The contributing authors examine what kind of state is needed to strengthen democratic politics and social justice, but also to improve the economic effectiveness of the state and thereby prospects for development. For Mexico, what is missing is a clear vision for creating a progressive, truly modern society where the notion of a social contract between the government and citizens could be established along the lines of a welfare state that is inclusive, sustainable, and transformative enough to tackle seriously the fundamental socioeconomic injustices dividing Mexicans.

In many areas of the world, environmental degradation in and around human settlements is undermining prospects for both socioeconomic justice and ecological sustainability. To explore the issues involved in this worldwide problem, Keith Pezzoli focuses on a dramatic instance of conflict that grew out of the unauthorized penetration of human settlements into the Ajusco greenbelt zone, a vital part of Mexico City's ecological reserve. The heart of the book is the story of what happened when residents of the Ajusco settlements fought relocation by proposing that the areas be transformed into productive ecology settlements. Pezzoli draws upon urban and regional planning theory and practice to examine biophysical as well as ethical and social sides of the story, and he uses the Mexican experience to identify planning strategies to link economy, ecology, and community in sustainable development. -- Publisher description.

'Free Trade and the Environment' examines the impact of international economic integration on the environment, taking as a case study the experience of Mexico, as it transformed itself from one of the most closed economies in the world to one of the mostopen.