A City on a Lake: Urban Political Ecology and the Growth of Mexico City – PDF

In the PDF “A City on a Lake: Urban Political Ecology and the Growth of Mexico City,” Professor Matthew Vitz meticulously traces the dynamic relationship between politics and the environment in Mexico City. He vividly describes how the city evolved from a lush, water-rich landscape to a metropolis plagued by pollution and social disparity. Vitz astutely analyses the complex web of scientific and social conflicts surrounding water management, deforestation, housing, and sanitation, illustrating how these disputes have shaped the city’s development. By unraveling the city’s environmental history, Vitz provides profound insights into the exercise, perpetuation, and resistance of urban power in Latin America – from the pre-revolutionary pursuit of a hygienic city for capitalist advancement, through revolutionary calls for equitable resource allocation, to the mid-twentieth-century rise of a technocratic regime catering to the urban elite.