The Medium Cities in Jalisco, an alternative for Sustainable Development, through the Metropolization process for the consolidation of the Regions

Abstract

The Middle Cities in the process of consolidation as Metropolitan areas in Jalisco, generate positive expectations as an alternative of "Sustainable Development", and the decentralization of the Metropolitan area of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. This study will focus on two zones and/or metropolitan areas being  the metropolitan areas of Ocotlán, in the Ciénega Region of the State of Jalisco, Mexico and the metropolitan area of the South of Jalisco, in the South Region of the State, in addition to the implementation of instruments such as the development and/or updating of the metropolitan program through the Territorial Planning in order to seek equity for Sustainable Urban Development that seeks impact in a more balanced way in its regions.

This research has a systemic approach, based om the recognition of the possibilities offered by the territory where the zones and/or metropolitan areas of the central municipalities are located in the consolidation process in the State of Jalisco, Mexico, and the outer municipalities which are grouped around these central municipalities forming the metropolitan areas. The average cities chosen for this case study are in the Ciénega region of the state, where the city of Ocotlán is located (central municipalities), Jalisco, Mexico, this due to its peculiarity in terms of its tourist-industrial vocation and the other in the South Region, where it is located; Ciudad Guzmán (central municipalities), Jalisco, Mexico, due to the negative impact process that is taking place in its territory through agro-industrialization, which in the beginning this city is located in an endorheic basin, with  vocation for forestry, services and education. 

For all the above, it is necessary to take as a starting point the highest concentration human settlement “Central Municipality declared Zones and/or Metropolitan Areas”, as a regional development hub, (in these two case studies, within a corridor of national merchandise transfer), through the impact it generates in the (regional) territory, based on the analysis of the ecological, environmental, social, economic, political and cultural aspects that are intended to be observed. Taking into account mainly the natural and anthropogenic vulnerabilities that afflict these areas and / or metropolitan areas in their territory, as well as the impact they are having on climate change and global warming on sustainability.

According to ONU-HABITAT (2016), cities are divided into four categories; the small cities that range from 100,000 to 500,000 inhabitants, the intermediate cities that are considered from 500,000 to 1,000,000 inhabitants and two other categories that are not useful for this study because they are of greater population being only the metropolitan area of Guadalajara which would be in that rank in the State of Jalisco. Small and intermediate cities are considered according to data from organizations such as the (Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), 2018) as the scenarios of sustainable development, that is, it is the intermediate cities that could make a paradigm shift of the urban development that seeks decentralization, in the territorial planning of the region.

In the case of our country Mexico, the intermediate cities (ONU-HABITAT range (2016), play a fundamental role, only in the case of the study of the Medium Cities in the State of Jalisco, Mexico, declared as metropolitan areas in our Mexican legislation (SEDATU 2013), they are in the range of small cities according to UN-HABITAT (2016), since none exceeds the range of 500,000 inhabitants.

Of the two middle cities included in the Delimitation of the metropolitan areas of Mexico 2015, (official Federal delimitation of CONAPO, INEGI and SEDATU); The metropolitan area of Ocotlán, consisting of the municipalities of Jamay, Ocotlán and Poncitlán, has a population of 176,158 inhabitants, (census of INEGI 2015), the decree by the Jalisco State Congress is missing. In the case of the southern metropolitan area, formed by the municipalities of Gómez Farías, Zapotiltic and Zapotlán el Grande of the state of Jalisco, it has a population of 148,893 inhabitants, (census of INEGI 2015), this metropolitan area was only decreed in the congress of the State of Jalisco, Mexico and is not included in the delimitation of the metropolitan areas of Mexico, (official Federal delimitation of CONAPO, INEGI and SEDATU).