Population, territory and sustainable development

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Box IX.1 (concluded)
The national structure is defined by territorial links through central places of varying hierarchy and
function. Nationally, six tiers reflect cities’ weight within the national urban system. The major cities of the states in
the central area of the country are classified as follows:
First tier (18,396,770 inhabitants): The metropolitan region of the Valley of Mexico (ZMCM), which produces
around half the country’s manufactured goods and services (by value), is home to one quarter of the economically
active population and receives much of the domestic migration flow. This systemic approach identifies the ZMVM
as the centre dominating all other Mexican cities directly or indirectly through the principle of transitivity. No city
falls outside the national urban system, since each one is subordinate to others.
Second tier (9,032,800 inhabitants): Puebla-Tlaxcala falls within this tier, along with Monterrey and Guadalajara
(Jalisco). These cities concentrate enormous economic power and are major service centres. This is clearly seen
in their influence over cities in neighbouring states in this large region, where they complement Mexico City in
some functions.
Third tier (14,763,111 inhabitants): Cuernavaca-Jiutepec (Morelos) and Toluca-Lerma (state of Mexico and
Querétaro) fall within this tier, along with the cities of Saltillo-Ramos, Arizpe-Arteaga, Torreón-Gómez, Palacio-
Lerdo, Tampico-Madero-Altamira, San Luis Potosí- Soledad de Graciano Sánchez, Chihuahua, Ciudad Juárez,
Hermosillo, Tijuana, Culiacán, León, Morelia-Tarimbaro, Acapulco, Veracruz-Boca del Río-Alvarado, Mérida-
Progreso and Oaxaca de Juárez. These cities show enormous capacity for integrating the surrounding areas, which
are usually in the same state; their influence wanes as distance from their own city limits increases.
Fourth tier (8,355,171 inhabitants): Pachuca (Hidalgo) is in this tier, as are Reynosa-Río Bravo, Nuevo Laredo,
Durango, Ciudad Obregón, Mexicali, Los Mochis, Topolobampo, Mazatlán, Irapuato-Salamanca, Celaya,
Aguascalientes-Jesús María, Tepic-Xalisco, Tuxtla-Gutiérrez, Xalapa-Banderillas-Coatepec, Coatzacoalcos,
Villahermosa and Cancún.
Fifth tier (5,973,507 inhabitants): This tier includes Cuautla (Morelos), Tulancingo (Hidalgo), Tlaxcala (Tlaxcala),
Apizaco (Tlaxcala), Tehuacán (Puebla), and another 25 cities. These cities shape population centres and small
regions in their own states and are distributed throughout the country.
Sixth tier (5,973,507 inhabitants): This tier includes Atlixco (Puebla) and another 51 locations. This group’s small
influence is limited to towns nearby.
Source: L. Herrera, W. Pecht and F. Olivares, “Crecimiento urbano de América Latina: mapas y planos de ciudades”, serie E,
No. 22, Santiago, Chile, Latin American Demographic Centre (CELADE), 1976; Secretariat of Social Development,
Programa Nacional de Desarrollo Urbano y Ordenación del Territorio 2001-2006, Mexico City, 2001; G. Garza, “La
urbanización metropolitana en México: Normatividad y características socioeconómicas”, Papeles de población, April-
June, No. 052, Toluca, Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, April-June 2007 [online] http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/
pdf/112/11205204.pdf.
In nearly all of the countries in the region, urbanization has significantly increased the number of
cities making up urban systems, establishing alternatives and counterweights to the main city. The
growing number of cities can be seen in table IX.1, which refers to the period 1950-2000, and in maps
IX.1 and IX.2. Table IX.1 shows that in Latin America one third of the population lives in large cities,
two thirds in cities of 20,000 inhabitants or more, and almost 80% in urban areas. Thus, most of the
region’s urban population lives in cities or towns with fewer than one million inhabitants.