The Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) is the largest urban agglomeration in Mexico, and one of the largest in the world. The sprawling metropolis contains over 60 municipalities spread across three states: Mexico City2, the state of Mexico (location of the Ecatepec municipality, where Ciudad Azteca is located) and the state of Hidalgo. As of 2010, the MCMA spanned across almost 8 thousand square kilometers and was home to more than 23 million people (INEGI, 2010).
2 Mexico City, previously known as the “Federal District” (Distrito Federal) formally acquired the jurisdictional status comparable to a state in Mexico in 2016.
Built on a former lake bed, Mexico City has long been of central importance, as the historical seat of the national government and the nation’s economic center. Today the MCMA accounts for almost a quarter of the country’s total gross domestic product (GDP) (OECD, 2015). The city’s population increased explosively during the second half of the twentieth century, jumping from 3 million in 1950 to almost 20 million inhabitants by the end of the century (Guerra, 2015). This growth considerably outpaced the expansion of transportation infrastructure, housing supply, and other public services. While the rate of growth has slowed in the last two decades, the MCMA continues to grow above the national average (OECD, 2015).
