Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. We use cookies to help provide and enhance our service and tailor content and ads. Founded in 1325 in the highlands of Mexico, the city is surrounded on three sides by mountains and volcanos on high plains. Mountainous slopes of volcanic origin occupy about half of the area of the Federal District, largely in the south, where ancient lava beds called pedregales underlie much of the modern built-up area. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Finds increased population density and transit use around suburban stations. Does not find significant influence on car use or downtown development. While the investment sparked a significant increase in local Metro use, most of this increase came from people relying on informal transit, rather than cars. Only recently has service coverage been extended into the periphery, which has accounted for the majority of postwar metropolitan population growth. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. The latter make southward intrusions only during the Northern Hemisphere winter and spring. Beyond it is the Sierra de Guadalupe, which marked the northern edge of the colonial city. Compares travel and land use outcomes at six geographies across two time periods. The highland Valley of Mexico is enclosed on all sides by mountains that form parts of the Cordillera Neo-Volcánica (Neo-Volcanic Range). By continuing you agree to the use of cookies. As a result, these lacustrine plains make up one-fourth of the city and Federal District’s area. Provides rare quantitative analysis of suburban transit in a developing-world city. The Valley of Mexico constitutes a broad area of convergence for species of the tropical and temperate realms. The Metro's Line B, which opened in phases in 1999 and 2000, significantly expanded Metro coverage into the densely populated and fast-growing suburban municipality of Ecatepec. Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. or its licensors or contributors. Other middle-class neighbourhoods are sprinkled about, with special concentrations in Coyoacán, Tlalpan, and a few other delegaciónes. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. A combination of neoliberal policies, complex geographic location, socio-economic disparities and inefficient strategies, have influenced the process of gentrification in the city. The city’s climate has changed since the surrounding lakes were drained and as the built-up area has increased in size. Mexico City’s climate is influenced by its high elevation, its limited air circulation owing to the mountains surrounding it on three sides, and its exposure to both tropical air masses and cold northerly fronts. At its edges stand the Metropolitan Cathedral (north), National Palace (east), Municipal Palace, or city hall (south), and an antique line of arcaded shops (west). Night frosts occur from December through January, primarily along the city’s elevated periphery. We use cookies to help provide and enhance our service and tailor content and ads. Meanwhile, air circulation in the valley is stymied by temperature inversion, in which a blanket of hot polluted air blocks the normal vertical movement of air. To the west lies Chapultepec, or Grasshopper Hill, an extensive tree-covered park with freshwater springs, rock art, a zoo, and the fortress where young cadets (“Los Niños Héroes”) martyred themselves in resistance to invading U.S. troops in 1847. Findings suggest that land use planning can play a modest and growing role in reducing car travel in Mexico City. Middle-class families have occupied some of the formerly elite neighbourhoods along Paseo de la Reforma and Insurgentes, including the elegant French-styled late 19th-century mansions and palaces of the Colonia Roma and Polanco neighbourhoods. Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. or its licensors or contributors. The mean annual temperature is 59 °F (14 °C), but temperatures vary seasonally and diurnally. A small area remains as an ecological reserve within the main campus of the National Autonomous University. Comparing travel behavior and land use measures at six geographic scales, including the investment's immediate catchment area, across two time periods—six years before and seven years after the investment opened—this paper investigates the effects of one of the first and only suburban high-capacity transit investments in Mexico City. As a result, these lacustrine plains make up one-fourth of the city and Federal District’s area. Mexico City is one of the most important cultural and financial centres in the world. However, it also increased government subsidies for the Metro and had no apparent effect on road speeds. The broad, monument-studded avenue called Paseo de la Reforma crosses the downtown area (in Cuauhtémoc delegación) from northwest to southeast before turning west at Chapultepec Park. This shift reduced average transit expenditures and travel times for local residents. stable over time. The Aztec and, later, Spanish rulers commissioned elaborate water-supply and drainage systems to reduce the threat of flooding within the city. Squatter settlements and slums known as ciudades perdidas (“lost cities”) have occupied formerly green areas, unused lots, and vast areas of dry lake beds, especially along the city’s northwestern and eastern peripheries. Learn more about the Mexico City earthquake of 1985 and the Torre Mayor office building (completed 2003), which was built to withstand earthquakes, in this 2009 video. These two volcanoes are sometimes visible from Mexico City on windy mornings, when the air is less laden with pollutants. LAND USE. By continuing you agree to the use of cookies. Argues for improving suburban medium-capacity transit like colectivos. These were gradually expanded in capacity until they drained nearly all of the basin’s lake water. Compares travel and land use outcomes at six geographies across two time periods. Ridership is likely to be high, but so too will be the costs and subsidies, while the effects on car ownership and urban form are likely to be modest. Where correlations have changed, they have strengthened. Upper-class families are also spread about, but many have moved into the highlands along the western edge of the city. The Metro's Line B, which opened in phases in 1999 and 2000, significantly expanded Metro coverage into the densely populated and fast-growing suburban municipality of Ecatepec. Mexico City massively expanded its urban fabric and population density, becoming the 5th largest city in the world. In short, the effects of Line B demonstrate much of the promise and problem with expanding high capacity transit service into the suburbs. In the greater metropolitan area, México state has been the recipient of the most recent urban sprawl, particularly in the southern parts of the state. Nearly all of this investment has been in central locations of the metropolis. In short, the effects of Line B demonstrate much of the promise and problem with expanding high capacity transit service into the suburbs. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. The razing of Tenochtitlán and the emergence of Mexico City, Mexico City - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Mexico City - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). The downtown lies at an elevation of some 7,350 feet (2,240 metres), but overall elevations average above 8,000 feet (2,400 metres). Only recently has service coverage been extended into the periphery, which has accounted for the majority of postwar metropolitan population growth. Although Fouracre et al. Finds increased population density and transit use around suburban stations. As a result, the city’s buildings, roadways, and machinery have created a thermal island—an urban heat island. (2003) and Gwilliam (2002) identify increased development and economic activity downtown as important impacts of high-capacity transit in developing-world cities, suburban impacts may be as important or even more so. Grasslands that once bordered the city are now largely covered by prickly pear cactus as well as by a drought-resistant scrub tree known as pirul or piru, the Peruvian pepper tree; this was introduced during the colonial period and became an aggressive colonizer. Keywords transportation, land use, vehicle kilometers traveled, Mexico City, car travel, urban form Snowfall is extremely rare at lower elevations, however, and winter temperatures can rise into the mid-70s F (mid-20s C) during the day.