Monterey, NL. The Metropolitan Area of Monterrey has had a rapid urban expansion in Juárez, Apodaca and Santa Catarina. However, the municipalities with ultra growth in the last 10 years have been Pesquería, El Carmen, Ciénega de Flores, García and Salinas Victoria, because foreign investment has arrived, this puts pressure on the demand for services and public transport, as well as infrastructure to have schools and hospitals.
“This growth is impressive and the fact that it occurs in areas far from the center (of the metropolis) has increased the complexity of managing all the services that are required,” he told The EconomistJorge O. Moreno, research professor at the Autonomous University of Nuevo León.
The municipality with the highest growth has been Pesquería; in 2010 there were 20,843 inhabitants, while in 2020 its population increased to 147,724 inhabitants, according to the 2020 Population and Housing Census, due to the installation of the Korean carmaker Kia Mexico and its suppliers.
Other nearby municipalities that have shown rapid growth are: El Carmen, which went from 16,092 people to 104,478; García grew from 143,668 to 397,205 inhabitants; Ciénega de Flores went from 24,526 to 68,747 people and Salinas Victoria increased its population from 32,660 to 86,766 inhabitants between 2010 and 2020, according to the Census of the National Institute of Geography and Statistics.
On the other hand, the rapid urban expansion, “has gone hand in hand with a stagnation of real wages at the national level, affecting the cost and quality of life of citizens. The fact that families do not have a sufficient income, or that the purchasing value has been reduced (due to inflation), makes the situation more difficult for those who live in remote areas and with little access to services”, stressed Jorge O. Moreno.
challenges
The challenges in infrastructure have to do with transportation and the construction of hospitals and schools. “Investment in this area is primarily from the federation, but with the changes that have taken place, Nuevo León has really been very affected,” he stressed.
He explained that health and education are related to road capacity and quality public transportation that can connect families living in remote areas with the Monterrey Metropolitan Area.
“For example, one of the most important problems that the lack of transportation brings with it is the impossibility of being able to connect labor supply and demand, which has caused increases in informality, as there is no efficient, quality public transportation and affordable cost”, stressed the researcher from the Faculty of Economics of the UANL.
He considered that the municipalities most abandoned by public transport are García, Juárez and Santa Catarina, where the quantity and density of the population per square meter has increased exponentially.
The foregoing has caused the use of the automobile to be generalized in all income strata, which affects roads, especially during peak hours, he stressed.
“This phenomenon is documented, and also with externalities, such as greater pollution and more cost in homes in the peripheral area,” said Jorge O. Moreno.
