Alejandra Reyes | University of California, Irvine (original) (raw)
Papers by Alejandra Reyes
Radical housing journal, Dec 21, 2022
The contributions in this issue of the Radical Housing Journal evidence the historical and contem... more The contributions in this issue of the Radical Housing Journal evidence the historical and contemporary evolution of struggles against structural pressures impacting housing and everyday precarity, as well as mobilizing efforts based on particular local, gained or ancestral knowledge. We outline four main themes emerging in the articles featured in this issue, all situated both within and against the lived realities of housing injustices. We hope this issue triggers analyses, questions, approaches and praxis for housing activists, researchers and practitioners everywhere to continue to imagine and co-produce transitions that move beyond our current realities to those founded on true security and justice.
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research
Radical Housing Journal, 2020
The Issue 2.1 Editorial Collective has been hit by surprise by the Covid-19 pandemic in many comp... more The Issue 2.1 Editorial Collective has been hit by surprise by the Covid-19 pandemic in many complex ways. After taking time to acknowledge the rupture, we decided to go forward with this issue as a way of joining the urgent discussion about the present and future of housing organizing. With this issue, we bring past experiences of struggle into the present as a basis for rethinking the housing doomsday machine that we got stuck with while trying to handle the pandemic and disastrous national quarantine management. Together with articles that reflect on the past experiences of housing struggles, we also opened this issue up for collective reflections about the present and the post-pandemic futures of housing and home.
Radical Housing Journal
This issue of RHJ offers a range of perspectives, analyses and themes to understand the many chal... more This issue of RHJ offers a range of perspectives, analyses and themes to understand the many challenges that dwellers face when confronting and struggling for access to housing. Embedded within it, we present two special issues, one on tenant organizing and resistance, and a second on urban activist scholarship. We also include a series of conversations on COVID-19 and related housing struggles in the Global South.
Radical Housing Journal
This issue of RHJ offers a range of perspectives, analyses and themes to understand the many chal... more This issue of RHJ offers a range of perspectives, analyses and themes to understand the many challenges that dwellers face when confronting and struggling for access to housing. Embedded within it, we present two special issues, one on tenant organizing and resistance, and a second on urban activist scholarship. We also include a series of conversations on COVID-19 and related housing struggles in the Global South.
Planning Perspectives, 2022
International Journal of Urban Sciences
ABSTRACT During the 2000s, millions of Mexicans acquired mortgages to buy homes in the fringes of... more ABSTRACT During the 2000s, millions of Mexicans acquired mortgages to buy homes in the fringes of cities throughout the country. Many such households have faced limited access to services, infrastructure and employment, and have seen their monthly mortgage payments increase while their debt remains virtually unchanged. In parallel, while about a third of Mexicans still live in poor housing conditions, numerous newly built developments have exhibited alarmingly high housing vacancy rates. Such coexistence of housing vacancy and shortages exposes considerable tensions in Mexican housing policy between the social and the economic values of housing. While previous analyses have centred on the financialization of housing policy in Mexico, this paper examines some of the local, political and socioeconomic implications of recent federal housing finance policy and urban development patterns, particularly as they relate to housing access and vacancy. Furthermore, this paper discusses the more recent evolution of Mexico’s housing and urban development policy, as well as the juxtaposition of the institutional and civic responses that have emerged to make front to previous financialization and housing development patterns and their implications.
Housing Policy Debate
ABSTRACT The main aim of this article is to analyze the participation of different government lev... more ABSTRACT The main aim of this article is to analyze the participation of different government levels and institutions in promoting the financialization of housing in Mexico. Furthermore, it examines some of the implications of following this logic, particularly at the local and household levels, such as surmounting mortgage debt, the clustering of vacant and abandoned housing, and, ultimately, the reproduction of poor housing conditions. Since the late 1990s, millions of households have acquired mortgages to buy homes in the periurban fringes of Mexican cities. Such new sprawling housing developments, however, have offered limited access to economic opportunities, and have imposed a significant burden on local governments to provide infrastructure and services. Many families have also seen their mortgage debt increase, forcing many of them to leave their dwellings behind. By 2010, Mexico had the highest vacancy rate among member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and about a third of Mexicans still live in precarious housing conditions. Such paradoxical coexistence, I argue, exposes a tension between the financialization of and the right to housing, and the extent to which the former has trumped the latter.
Cities
Through the analysis of personal interviews, resident surveys, government documents, newspaper an... more Through the analysis of personal interviews, resident surveys, government documents, newspaper and community accounts, among other relevant data, this paper studies housing movements and organizations in Mexico City, and exemplifies the reach that social mobilizing and organizing may have on cities and their political structures. In this context, mobilizations around detrimental housing conditions provided more than support to low-income tenants and affordable housing production; they contributed to the democratization of the local government. This in turn helped, with the election of a sympathetic government, to consolidate housing programs, norms, and institutions. Thus, and despite limited resources, new local housing strategies set notable standards at the national level. More recently, however, grassroots organizing efforts and community involvement in processes of affordable housing production have lost standing. Furthermore, housing organizations and leaders have become increasingly susceptible to political processes and electoral cycles. As civic groups have ceased to effectively monitor government actions, housing policies and efforts have lost legitimacy among the citizenry and housing unaffordability has remained a significant issue. Yet, although some housing organizations have lost autonomy, they have not necessarily lost their ability to influence local politics and policy. The evolution of these organizations, therefore, provides notable lessons to those that seek to institutionalize their demands and strengthen their ability to shape the growth and development of their cities and regions.
Planning Perspectives, 2022
Political and economic reforms to open and liberalize Mexico’s economy drove federal administrati... more Political and economic reforms to open and liberalize Mexico’s economy drove federal administrations to promote mortgage expansion and mass housing production at an unprecedented pace since around the turn of the millennium. This allowed a select group of housing development companies to grow considerably through the construction and sale of homes for lower-middle income households. The country’s housing finance and development model was eventually rendered unsustainable given onerous mortgage terms for households, substandard housing production in remote locations, leverage issues and speculative practices on the part of developers. Subsequent administrations modified their approach to managing, promoting, and restricting housing finance and production, highlighting the influence of political actors and regimes in addressing the tensions between economic pressures and social concerns. Shifting sociopolitical dynamics have continued to transform housing finance policy agendas. While the reach and implications of recent changes have not fully materialized, this paper highlights the fluctuating and unstable nature of housing finance and its contingency on the different political and ideological inclinations of national (and subnational) governments – and the push of their constituents.
This paper is part of the IMFG Perspectives series. For a full list of papers, please visit http:... more This paper is part of the IMFG Perspectives series. For a full list of papers, please visit http://bit.ly/2ylAa2D
Planning Practice & Research
This article discusses a course at The University of Texas at Austinwhich sought to facilitate do... more This article discusses a course at The University of Texas at Austinwhich sought to facilitate doctoral students’ development of scholarly articles while simultaneously fostering their sense of scholarly identity. The article was co-authored by the instructor and two cohorts of doctoral students based on immediate as well as retrospective learning outcome assessments. The social constructivist approach to writing pedagogy fostered students’ scholarly identities and demystified the publication process. However, efforts should be made to maintain the practice of writing, sharing, and reviewing and the course should more explicitly foster critical reflections on the relationship between writing, scholarly identity, and knowledge production.
Demystifying Academic Writing in the Doctoral Program: Writing Workshops, Peer Reviews, and Scholarly Identities, 2020
This article discusses a course at The University of Texas at Austinwhich sought to facilitate do... more This article discusses a course at The University of Texas at
Austinwhich sought to facilitate doctoral students’ development of
scholarly articles while simultaneously fostering their sense of scholarly identity. The article was co-authored by the instructor and two
cohorts of doctoral students based on immediate as well as retrospective learning outcome assessments. The social constructivist
approach to writing pedagogy fostered students’ scholarly identities
and demystified the publication process. However, efforts should be
made to maintain the practice of writing, sharing, and reviewing and
the course should more explicitly foster critical reflections on the
relationship between writing, scholarly identity, and knowledge
production.
Institute on Municipal Finance & Governance at University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, 2020
New IMFG paper describes the experience of some of Mexico’s largest cities in implementing nation... more New IMFG paper describes the experience of some of Mexico’s largest cities in implementing nationally mandated urban growth policies.
Mexico’s population has increasingly concentrated in large metropolitan regions, which have not only increased in number, but also in size. Sprawling development patterns have resulted in housing developments forming around the peripheries of Mexico’s largest cities. In response to these developments, the federal government established Urban Growth Boundaries across 400 Mexican towns and cities in 2013.
This paper analyzes the influence of local (public and private) stakeholders on the drafting and implementation of these Urban Growth Boundaries, and their experience with this federally mandated urban and metropolitan development policy in terms of how suitable and effective they have perceived it to be.
This analysis is based on the findings of a survey of local and state planning officials and housing construction chambers. The survey assesses the effectiveness of the Urban Growth Boundaries in halting sprawl, promoting sustainable development and affordable housing, guiding urban planning, and facilitating institutional coordination. It also suggests who has had the most influence in the drawing and implementation of these boundaries.
Current Urban Studies, 2020
Followed by two previous conferences 20 and 40 years earlier, the Habitat III conference convened... more Followed by two previous conferences 20 and 40 years earlier, the Habitat III
conference convened in Quito in 2016 to tackle global urban challenges. With
cities experiencing ever-increasing levels of poverty, inequality, and vulnerability
to climate change, Habitat’s New Urban Agenda outlines its priorities
for sustainable urban development considering current urban realities. This
paper aims to assess the changing dynamics that have paved the road towards
Habitat III and to evaluate the ongoing prospects for its effective policy implementation
by analyzing: 1) the changing development paradigms that have
informed the three meetings, and 2) the nature, adequacy and influence of
Habitat policy frameworks. Our analysis elucidates the weak commitment of
nations at framing and implementing policies that help advance past Habitat’s
agendas. This leads us to conclude that local governments may be better
suited to promote just and sustainable development. Promising policymaking
may occur if governments can intersect the principles of the New Urban
Agenda with other global agendas, including the Sustainable Development
Goals. Yet, it is relatively clear four years after Habitat III, that local commitment
to these principles is not uniform either and that only certain world regions
are actively participating in their implementation.
PLANNING PRACTICE & RESEARCH, 2020
This article discusses a course at The University of Texas at Austinwhich sought to facilitate do... more This article discusses a course at The University of Texas at
Austinwhich sought to facilitate doctoral students’ development of
scholarly articles while simultaneously fostering their sense of scholarly
identity. The article was co-authored by the instructor and two
cohorts of doctoral students based on immediate as well as retrospective
learning outcome assessments. The social constructivist
approach to writing pedagogy fostered students’ scholarly identities
and demystified the publication process. However, efforts should be
made to maintain the practice of writing, sharing, and reviewing and
the course should more explicitly foster critical reflections on the
relationship between writing, scholarly identity, and knowledge
production.
International Journal of Urban Sciences, 2020
During the 2000s, millions of Mexicans acquired mortgages to buy homes in the fringes of cities t... more During the 2000s, millions of Mexicans acquired mortgages to buy homes in the fringes of cities throughout the country. Many such households have faced limited access to services, infrastructure and employment, and have seen their monthly mortgage payments increase while their debt remains virtually unchanged. In parallel, while about a third of Mexicans still live in poor housing conditions, numerous newly built developments have exhibited alarmingly high housing vacancy rates. Such coexistence of housing vacancy and shortages exposes considerable tensions in Mexican housing policy between the social and the economic values of housing. While previous analyses have centred on the financialization of housing policy in Mexico, this paper examines some of the local, political and socioeconomic implications of recent federal housing finance policy and urban development patterns, particularly as they relate to housing access and vacancy. Furthermore, this paper discusses the more recent evolution of Mexico's housing and urban development policy, as well as the juxtaposition of the institutional and civic responses that have emerged to make front to previous financialization and housing development patterns and their implications. ARTICLE HISTORY
Housing Policy Debate, 2020
The main aim of this article is to analyze the participation of different government levels and i... more The main aim of this article is to analyze the participation of different
government levels and institutions in promoting the financialization of
housing in Mexico. Furthermore, it examines some of the implications of
following this logic, particularly at the local and household levels, such as
surmounting mortgage debt, the clustering of vacant and abandoned
housing, and, ultimately, the reproduction of poor housing conditions.
Since the late 1990s, millions of households have acquired mortgages to
buy homes in the periurban fringes of Mexican cities. Such new sprawling
housing developments, however, have offered limited access to economic
opportunities, and have imposed a significant burden on local governments
to provide infrastructure and services. Many families have also seen
their mortgage debt increase, forcing many of them to leave their dwellings
behind. By 2010, Mexico had the highest vacancy rate among member
countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development, and about a third of Mexicans still live in precarious housing
conditions. Such paradoxical coexistence, I argue, exposes a tension
between the financialization of and the right to housing, and the extent to
which the former has trumped the latter.
This paper examines the evolution of Mexico City’s governance structure in relation to the pursui... more This paper examines the evolution of Mexico City’s governance structure in relation to the pursuit of greater political
and administrative autonomy. Although it is a federalist country, Mexico has had relatively centralized governments.
The governance, finances, and legislation of the country’s capital, Mexico City (formerly the federal district), were
in the hands of the federal government until recently. Yet since the 1980s, strong civic demands for greater local
autonomy have led to significant victories, culminating in the first elections for Mexico City mayor in 1996.
Twenty years later, in 2016, the federal district was dissolved to make Mexico City the 32nd state of the country.
The first local Constitution was completed a year later, along with the formation of a local-state congress. Such shifts
would not have been possible without the participation of sociopolitical movements and organizations. Nonetheless,
further social and political mobilization will be required to consolidate and put to good use the city’s autonomy
and address persistent challenges, such as metropolitan and regional coordination with neighbouring states and
municipalities to promote inclusive and sustainable growth and development across the entire metropolis.
Radical housing journal, Dec 21, 2022
The contributions in this issue of the Radical Housing Journal evidence the historical and contem... more The contributions in this issue of the Radical Housing Journal evidence the historical and contemporary evolution of struggles against structural pressures impacting housing and everyday precarity, as well as mobilizing efforts based on particular local, gained or ancestral knowledge. We outline four main themes emerging in the articles featured in this issue, all situated both within and against the lived realities of housing injustices. We hope this issue triggers analyses, questions, approaches and praxis for housing activists, researchers and practitioners everywhere to continue to imagine and co-produce transitions that move beyond our current realities to those founded on true security and justice.
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research
Radical Housing Journal, 2020
The Issue 2.1 Editorial Collective has been hit by surprise by the Covid-19 pandemic in many comp... more The Issue 2.1 Editorial Collective has been hit by surprise by the Covid-19 pandemic in many complex ways. After taking time to acknowledge the rupture, we decided to go forward with this issue as a way of joining the urgent discussion about the present and future of housing organizing. With this issue, we bring past experiences of struggle into the present as a basis for rethinking the housing doomsday machine that we got stuck with while trying to handle the pandemic and disastrous national quarantine management. Together with articles that reflect on the past experiences of housing struggles, we also opened this issue up for collective reflections about the present and the post-pandemic futures of housing and home.
Radical Housing Journal
This issue of RHJ offers a range of perspectives, analyses and themes to understand the many chal... more This issue of RHJ offers a range of perspectives, analyses and themes to understand the many challenges that dwellers face when confronting and struggling for access to housing. Embedded within it, we present two special issues, one on tenant organizing and resistance, and a second on urban activist scholarship. We also include a series of conversations on COVID-19 and related housing struggles in the Global South.
Radical Housing Journal
This issue of RHJ offers a range of perspectives, analyses and themes to understand the many chal... more This issue of RHJ offers a range of perspectives, analyses and themes to understand the many challenges that dwellers face when confronting and struggling for access to housing. Embedded within it, we present two special issues, one on tenant organizing and resistance, and a second on urban activist scholarship. We also include a series of conversations on COVID-19 and related housing struggles in the Global South.
Planning Perspectives, 2022
International Journal of Urban Sciences
ABSTRACT During the 2000s, millions of Mexicans acquired mortgages to buy homes in the fringes of... more ABSTRACT During the 2000s, millions of Mexicans acquired mortgages to buy homes in the fringes of cities throughout the country. Many such households have faced limited access to services, infrastructure and employment, and have seen their monthly mortgage payments increase while their debt remains virtually unchanged. In parallel, while about a third of Mexicans still live in poor housing conditions, numerous newly built developments have exhibited alarmingly high housing vacancy rates. Such coexistence of housing vacancy and shortages exposes considerable tensions in Mexican housing policy between the social and the economic values of housing. While previous analyses have centred on the financialization of housing policy in Mexico, this paper examines some of the local, political and socioeconomic implications of recent federal housing finance policy and urban development patterns, particularly as they relate to housing access and vacancy. Furthermore, this paper discusses the more recent evolution of Mexico’s housing and urban development policy, as well as the juxtaposition of the institutional and civic responses that have emerged to make front to previous financialization and housing development patterns and their implications.
Housing Policy Debate
ABSTRACT The main aim of this article is to analyze the participation of different government lev... more ABSTRACT The main aim of this article is to analyze the participation of different government levels and institutions in promoting the financialization of housing in Mexico. Furthermore, it examines some of the implications of following this logic, particularly at the local and household levels, such as surmounting mortgage debt, the clustering of vacant and abandoned housing, and, ultimately, the reproduction of poor housing conditions. Since the late 1990s, millions of households have acquired mortgages to buy homes in the periurban fringes of Mexican cities. Such new sprawling housing developments, however, have offered limited access to economic opportunities, and have imposed a significant burden on local governments to provide infrastructure and services. Many families have also seen their mortgage debt increase, forcing many of them to leave their dwellings behind. By 2010, Mexico had the highest vacancy rate among member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and about a third of Mexicans still live in precarious housing conditions. Such paradoxical coexistence, I argue, exposes a tension between the financialization of and the right to housing, and the extent to which the former has trumped the latter.
Cities
Through the analysis of personal interviews, resident surveys, government documents, newspaper an... more Through the analysis of personal interviews, resident surveys, government documents, newspaper and community accounts, among other relevant data, this paper studies housing movements and organizations in Mexico City, and exemplifies the reach that social mobilizing and organizing may have on cities and their political structures. In this context, mobilizations around detrimental housing conditions provided more than support to low-income tenants and affordable housing production; they contributed to the democratization of the local government. This in turn helped, with the election of a sympathetic government, to consolidate housing programs, norms, and institutions. Thus, and despite limited resources, new local housing strategies set notable standards at the national level. More recently, however, grassroots organizing efforts and community involvement in processes of affordable housing production have lost standing. Furthermore, housing organizations and leaders have become increasingly susceptible to political processes and electoral cycles. As civic groups have ceased to effectively monitor government actions, housing policies and efforts have lost legitimacy among the citizenry and housing unaffordability has remained a significant issue. Yet, although some housing organizations have lost autonomy, they have not necessarily lost their ability to influence local politics and policy. The evolution of these organizations, therefore, provides notable lessons to those that seek to institutionalize their demands and strengthen their ability to shape the growth and development of their cities and regions.
Planning Perspectives, 2022
Political and economic reforms to open and liberalize Mexico’s economy drove federal administrati... more Political and economic reforms to open and liberalize Mexico’s economy drove federal administrations to promote mortgage expansion and mass housing production at an unprecedented pace since around the turn of the millennium. This allowed a select group of housing development companies to grow considerably through the construction and sale of homes for lower-middle income households. The country’s housing finance and development model was eventually rendered unsustainable given onerous mortgage terms for households, substandard housing production in remote locations, leverage issues and speculative practices on the part of developers. Subsequent administrations modified their approach to managing, promoting, and restricting housing finance and production, highlighting the influence of political actors and regimes in addressing the tensions between economic pressures and social concerns. Shifting sociopolitical dynamics have continued to transform housing finance policy agendas. While the reach and implications of recent changes have not fully materialized, this paper highlights the fluctuating and unstable nature of housing finance and its contingency on the different political and ideological inclinations of national (and subnational) governments – and the push of their constituents.
This paper is part of the IMFG Perspectives series. For a full list of papers, please visit http:... more This paper is part of the IMFG Perspectives series. For a full list of papers, please visit http://bit.ly/2ylAa2D
Planning Practice & Research
This article discusses a course at The University of Texas at Austinwhich sought to facilitate do... more This article discusses a course at The University of Texas at Austinwhich sought to facilitate doctoral students’ development of scholarly articles while simultaneously fostering their sense of scholarly identity. The article was co-authored by the instructor and two cohorts of doctoral students based on immediate as well as retrospective learning outcome assessments. The social constructivist approach to writing pedagogy fostered students’ scholarly identities and demystified the publication process. However, efforts should be made to maintain the practice of writing, sharing, and reviewing and the course should more explicitly foster critical reflections on the relationship between writing, scholarly identity, and knowledge production.
Demystifying Academic Writing in the Doctoral Program: Writing Workshops, Peer Reviews, and Scholarly Identities, 2020
This article discusses a course at The University of Texas at Austinwhich sought to facilitate do... more This article discusses a course at The University of Texas at
Austinwhich sought to facilitate doctoral students’ development of
scholarly articles while simultaneously fostering their sense of scholarly identity. The article was co-authored by the instructor and two
cohorts of doctoral students based on immediate as well as retrospective learning outcome assessments. The social constructivist
approach to writing pedagogy fostered students’ scholarly identities
and demystified the publication process. However, efforts should be
made to maintain the practice of writing, sharing, and reviewing and
the course should more explicitly foster critical reflections on the
relationship between writing, scholarly identity, and knowledge
production.
Institute on Municipal Finance & Governance at University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, 2020
New IMFG paper describes the experience of some of Mexico’s largest cities in implementing nation... more New IMFG paper describes the experience of some of Mexico’s largest cities in implementing nationally mandated urban growth policies.
Mexico’s population has increasingly concentrated in large metropolitan regions, which have not only increased in number, but also in size. Sprawling development patterns have resulted in housing developments forming around the peripheries of Mexico’s largest cities. In response to these developments, the federal government established Urban Growth Boundaries across 400 Mexican towns and cities in 2013.
This paper analyzes the influence of local (public and private) stakeholders on the drafting and implementation of these Urban Growth Boundaries, and their experience with this federally mandated urban and metropolitan development policy in terms of how suitable and effective they have perceived it to be.
This analysis is based on the findings of a survey of local and state planning officials and housing construction chambers. The survey assesses the effectiveness of the Urban Growth Boundaries in halting sprawl, promoting sustainable development and affordable housing, guiding urban planning, and facilitating institutional coordination. It also suggests who has had the most influence in the drawing and implementation of these boundaries.
Current Urban Studies, 2020
Followed by two previous conferences 20 and 40 years earlier, the Habitat III conference convened... more Followed by two previous conferences 20 and 40 years earlier, the Habitat III
conference convened in Quito in 2016 to tackle global urban challenges. With
cities experiencing ever-increasing levels of poverty, inequality, and vulnerability
to climate change, Habitat’s New Urban Agenda outlines its priorities
for sustainable urban development considering current urban realities. This
paper aims to assess the changing dynamics that have paved the road towards
Habitat III and to evaluate the ongoing prospects for its effective policy implementation
by analyzing: 1) the changing development paradigms that have
informed the three meetings, and 2) the nature, adequacy and influence of
Habitat policy frameworks. Our analysis elucidates the weak commitment of
nations at framing and implementing policies that help advance past Habitat’s
agendas. This leads us to conclude that local governments may be better
suited to promote just and sustainable development. Promising policymaking
may occur if governments can intersect the principles of the New Urban
Agenda with other global agendas, including the Sustainable Development
Goals. Yet, it is relatively clear four years after Habitat III, that local commitment
to these principles is not uniform either and that only certain world regions
are actively participating in their implementation.
PLANNING PRACTICE & RESEARCH, 2020
This article discusses a course at The University of Texas at Austinwhich sought to facilitate do... more This article discusses a course at The University of Texas at
Austinwhich sought to facilitate doctoral students’ development of
scholarly articles while simultaneously fostering their sense of scholarly
identity. The article was co-authored by the instructor and two
cohorts of doctoral students based on immediate as well as retrospective
learning outcome assessments. The social constructivist
approach to writing pedagogy fostered students’ scholarly identities
and demystified the publication process. However, efforts should be
made to maintain the practice of writing, sharing, and reviewing and
the course should more explicitly foster critical reflections on the
relationship between writing, scholarly identity, and knowledge
production.
International Journal of Urban Sciences, 2020
During the 2000s, millions of Mexicans acquired mortgages to buy homes in the fringes of cities t... more During the 2000s, millions of Mexicans acquired mortgages to buy homes in the fringes of cities throughout the country. Many such households have faced limited access to services, infrastructure and employment, and have seen their monthly mortgage payments increase while their debt remains virtually unchanged. In parallel, while about a third of Mexicans still live in poor housing conditions, numerous newly built developments have exhibited alarmingly high housing vacancy rates. Such coexistence of housing vacancy and shortages exposes considerable tensions in Mexican housing policy between the social and the economic values of housing. While previous analyses have centred on the financialization of housing policy in Mexico, this paper examines some of the local, political and socioeconomic implications of recent federal housing finance policy and urban development patterns, particularly as they relate to housing access and vacancy. Furthermore, this paper discusses the more recent evolution of Mexico's housing and urban development policy, as well as the juxtaposition of the institutional and civic responses that have emerged to make front to previous financialization and housing development patterns and their implications. ARTICLE HISTORY
Housing Policy Debate, 2020
The main aim of this article is to analyze the participation of different government levels and i... more The main aim of this article is to analyze the participation of different
government levels and institutions in promoting the financialization of
housing in Mexico. Furthermore, it examines some of the implications of
following this logic, particularly at the local and household levels, such as
surmounting mortgage debt, the clustering of vacant and abandoned
housing, and, ultimately, the reproduction of poor housing conditions.
Since the late 1990s, millions of households have acquired mortgages to
buy homes in the periurban fringes of Mexican cities. Such new sprawling
housing developments, however, have offered limited access to economic
opportunities, and have imposed a significant burden on local governments
to provide infrastructure and services. Many families have also seen
their mortgage debt increase, forcing many of them to leave their dwellings
behind. By 2010, Mexico had the highest vacancy rate among member
countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development, and about a third of Mexicans still live in precarious housing
conditions. Such paradoxical coexistence, I argue, exposes a tension
between the financialization of and the right to housing, and the extent to
which the former has trumped the latter.
This paper examines the evolution of Mexico City’s governance structure in relation to the pursui... more This paper examines the evolution of Mexico City’s governance structure in relation to the pursuit of greater political
and administrative autonomy. Although it is a federalist country, Mexico has had relatively centralized governments.
The governance, finances, and legislation of the country’s capital, Mexico City (formerly the federal district), were
in the hands of the federal government until recently. Yet since the 1980s, strong civic demands for greater local
autonomy have led to significant victories, culminating in the first elections for Mexico City mayor in 1996.
Twenty years later, in 2016, the federal district was dissolved to make Mexico City the 32nd state of the country.
The first local Constitution was completed a year later, along with the formation of a local-state congress. Such shifts
would not have been possible without the participation of sociopolitical movements and organizations. Nonetheless,
further social and political mobilization will be required to consolidate and put to good use the city’s autonomy
and address persistent challenges, such as metropolitan and regional coordination with neighbouring states and
municipalities to promote inclusive and sustainable growth and development across the entire metropolis.