Mapping and Tackling Spatial Inequality: The Case of Mexico City
Author
Murrieta, Lorena Montaño
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2026
Abstract
This thesis investigates how the spatial distribution of education and employment opportunities in Mexico City both reflects and shapes urban inequality, and which current disruptions could advance a sustainability transition toward spatial justice. Grounded in constructivism and informed by spatial justice theory and urban sustainability transitions, the study combines GIS-based spatial analysis with semi-structured interviews and a literature review. Mapping based on official sources and OpenStreetMap reveals a pronounced concentration of opportunities in central and western alcaldías and substantial segregation in the city’s southeastern alcaldías. These patterns are rooted in colonial legacies and reinforced by political and institutional inertia that reproduce opposing cycles of wealth and poverty. Through the cases of the 1985 earthquake and the COVID-19 pandemic, the thesis illustrates the socio-technical system’s resistance to change. It then highlights ongoing developments—the anti-gentrification movement and shifts in the patriarchal regime—as potential catalysts, and concludes by discussing decentralization strategies as steps toward greater spatial justice.
Dette speciale undersøger, hvordan den rumlige fordeling af uddannelses- og beskæftigelsesmuligheder i Mexico City både afspejler og former urban ulighed, samt hvilke aktuelle brud der kan fremme en bæredygtig omstilling mod rumlig retfærdighed. Med udgangspunkt i et konstruktivistisk videnssyn og teorier om rumlig retfærdighed og urbane bæredygtighedsomstillinger kombinerer studiet GIS-baseret rumlig analyse, semistrukturerede interviews og en litteraturgennemgang. Kortlægningen, baseret på officielle kilder og OpenStreetMap, viser en markant centralisering af muligheder i de centrale og vestlige alcaldías (bydele) og en betydelig marginalisering i byens sydøstlige alcaldías. Mønstrene kan spores til koloniale arv og forstærkes af politisk og institutionel træghed, der reproducerer modsatrettede cyklusser af velstand og fattigdom. Gennem historiske eksempler – jordskælvet i 1985 og COVID-19-pandemien – illustrerer specialet, hvordan det socio-tekniske system modstår forandring. Afslutningsvis peger specialet på igangværende udviklinger, herunder anti-gentrificeringsbevægelsen og ændringer i det patriarkalske regime, som potentielle katalysatorer for forandring, og drøfter strategier for at decentralisere byen som skridt mod større rumlig retfærdighed.
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