Video Summary - XIX FORO DE DESARROLLO URBANO Y VIVIENDA

Summary

The forum, held in observance of World Habitat Day, focused on adequate housing and the relationship between housing, urban growth, infrastructure, climate resilience, and residents’ quality of life. Its opening message emphasized that housing should be considered not just a building or investment, but a foundation for human dignity and well-being.

Urban expansion and rural communities around Mérida

Jorge Pacheco Castro and Mauricio Domínguez Aguilar examined how Mérida’s northward expansion is changing nearby rural settlements.

Real-estate, tourism, and service-sector growth has attracted investors and new residents while increasing pressure on land and local communities.
Housing developments have expanded faster than public services and infrastructure. Residents report problems with water supply, drainage, waste collection, street lighting, roads, and public transport.
More housing and commercial development has contributed to traffic congestion and increased car dependence.
The growth of gated and higher-priced developments has altered local ways of life. Longstanding residents may lose land, face higher living costs and property taxes, and find it harder to continue farming or other traditional activities.
Newcomers may live near established communities without using local businesses or developing social relationships with existing residents.
The presenters argued that urban growth and development have not been adequately coordinated with public planning or service provision, and have affected the economic, social, cultural, and environmental life of Yucatán’s original communities.

Energy security, photovoltaic systems, and climate resilience

Mauricio Domínguez Aguilar, Jorge Pacheco Castro, and Ligia María Herrera River presented exploratory research on how households and small businesses in Mérida view energy threats and rooftop photovoltaic systems.

Approach and concepts

The study used a quantitative, exploratory, descriptive approach involving residential and small-business users. It was not designed to test causal hypotheses or produce universally generalizable conclusions.
The researchers examined perceived energy and climate threats, which electrical services users regard as vital, vulnerabilities in supply, the role of photovoltaic systems, and users’ capacity to adapt.
They moved beyond broad, system-level definitions of energy security—often framed around availability, accessibility, acceptability, and affordability—toward “vital energy systems”: the resources and infrastructure people consider essential to protecting everyday activities and values.
Climate resilience was treated as the capacity to anticipate, withstand, adjust to, and recover from disruption. The presenters highlighted a “resource paradox”: owning technology or other assets does not necessarily provide resilience without maintenance, insurance, governance, and other supporting capabilities.

Findings reported

Users identified heat waves and power outages as major threats. Photovoltaic equipment itself can also be damaged by storms, hurricanes, and strong winds.
Small businesses especially expressed low or moderate confidence in the Federal Electricity Commission’s reliability during disruptions.
Electricity supports activities users consider vital, including cooling, food refrigeration, internet access, and—in businesses—continuity of operations. The presenters noted that some respondents placed especially high importance on internet access.
Up-front costs limit access to solar systems. The study reported average costs of roughly 167,000 pesos for businesses and 85,000 pesos for homes; financing patterns suggested that many users had the means to pay or take on credit.
Many systems are grid-connected without battery storage. They may lower bills but do not necessarily provide electricity during a grid outage; users can therefore feel more energy-independent than their systems actually make them.
Maintenance and insurance were limited: some users maintained systems only after a failure, and most surveyed homes and businesses lacked insurance for damage. The systems also generally depended on the CFE grid as backup.
The presenters concluded that photovoltaic panels alone do not ensure resilience. They identified maintenance, insurance and risk transfer, battery storage or other genuine backup, and local coordination as important complements.

Models of urban growth and their relationship to housing

Dr. Delia Yolanda Ordazia reviewed spatial models that help explain how cities distribute housing, activities, and infrastructure.

The concentric-zone model associated with Burgess describes rings around a central area, with different land uses and social groups occupying different zones.
Sector models explain growth in wedges or corridors rather than perfectly regular rings, including residential and industrial areas extending along transport routes.
The multiple-nuclei model of Harris and Ullman describes cities organized around several centers, such as universities, hospitals, airports, industrial zones, and commercial districts.
Later approaches account for migration, informal or semi-legal settlement, government housing, elite developments, and the spread of low-density urban areas.
Other models discussed the role of self-built housing, private developers, suburban growth, and gated or specialized residential communities.
Across these models, the speaker emphasized recurring consequences of poorly coordinated expansion: greater distances between housing, jobs, and services; reliance on private vehicles; more traffic and pollution; and unequal access to infrastructure.
Her central argument was that housing and urban planning should be assessed not only through the physical form of the city, but also through the economic, social, and political forces shaping it. Planning needs to address housing, services, mobility, and equity together.

Housing converted to short-term tourist rentals

Dr. Roberto Reyes Pérez and José Luis Cocón Herrera discussed the conversion of housing to short-term rentals, especially through platforms such as Airbnb.

The presenters said that the original “collaborative economy” idea—renting out a spare room—has shifted toward entire homes being offered for short stays and listings being managed by corporate or multi-property operators.
Citing platform data, they said that millions of homes worldwide have been diverted from the long-term housing supply. They reported that, in Mexico, short-term-rental listings are numerous and mostly consist of entire homes.
Mérida’s short-term rentals are concentrated in the historic center and other attractive locations, including areas associated with the gastronomic corridor. The presenters linked this concentration to heritage, tourism, safety, and investment.
They argued that short-term rentals, real-estate investment, and the arrival of higher-income newcomers can contribute to touristification and gentrification. Residents may be displaced directly or find that rising prices and changes to local commerce make their neighborhood increasingly difficult to live in.
The presenters described a shift toward hotel-like rental standards: furnished homes, air conditioning, high-speed internet, equipped kitchens, pools, parking, and automated check-in. Many listings are available for much of the year even when unoccupied.
The discussion also covered the profile and preferences of some foreign residents and renters, including high levels of education and purchasing power, demand for workspaces, and interest in historic homes and central neighborhoods.
They argued that regulation remains inadequate and that policies such as limiting rental days may not address the underlying loss of housing from the long-term market.

Administrative processes for building housing in Yucatán

Architect Gabriela Carrera Pérez, head of an office at the General Directorate of IMDUT, explained the administrative process for building a home and obtaining approval for a real-estate development. She began by outlining seven characteristics of adequate housing identified by UN-Habitat:

Security of tenure: Protection against forced eviction and other threats.
Services: Reliable access to drinking water, sanitation, and energy.
Affordability: Housing costs should not prevent households from meeting other basic needs.
Habitability: Sufficient space and protection from weather and physical hazards.
Accessibility: Consideration of disadvantaged groups and people with disabilities.
Location: Reasonable proximity to jobs, schools, health care, and transport, and avoidance of risky or contaminated sites.
Cultural adequacy: Respect for residents’ cultural identity and practices.

Process for a single-family home in Mérida

Depending on the location, obtain a land-use feasibility decision; environmentally sensitive or coastal locations may require an urban-environmental feasibility assessment.
Apply for the construction permit through the relevant municipal process.
Build the home.
Request approval related to wastewater treatment and completion of the work.

Process for a real-estate development

Obtain urban-environmental feasibility from IMDUT.
Apply for residential-development land-use authorization.
Meet the requirements under the state real-estate development law. The speaker said the initial authorization stage alone can involve many requirements, potentially including archaeological clearance, utility feasibility, and an environmental-impact statement.
Obtain authorization through the relevant committee and municipal publication process.
Complete the required land-registry and property-registration steps, including the handling of roads and donated areas.
Obtain approval for infrastructure projects from utilities and relevant agencies.
Secure urbanization and construction permits, build the development, and complete required stormwater and other works.
Request service acceptance and municipalization—the formal transfer of qualifying infrastructure and maintenance responsibilities to the municipality.

The speaker warned that developments may remain unmunicipalized for a time, leaving residents uncertain about who is responsible for maintenance. She also argued that procedural compliance does not by itself guarantee affordability, a suitable location, climate-adapted housing, or access to nearby jobs and services.

Green infrastructure and adequate housing

Dr. Erika Elizabeth Pérez Musquis presented green infrastructure as a way to connect housing and urban planning with local ecosystems, using Morelia, Michoacán, as a case study.

Uncontrolled urban expansion can replace agricultural and permeable land with buildings and pavement, worsening drainage, flooding, water recharge, and mobility problems.
Green infrastructure was described as a connected network of green spaces that supports ecosystems. The presentation also discussed blue infrastructure and the idea of “sponge cities,” which use vegetation and permeable surfaces to retain and absorb water.
The methodology emphasized several dimensions: multiple scales, connectivity, multifunctionality, sustainability, and governance.
In Morelia, the analysis considered the city’s location within the Cuitzeo basin, its rivers, aquifer-recharge areas, wetlands, protected areas, and urban open spaces.
The speaker highlighted risks to water recharge and wetlands from paving, construction, extraction, and pollution.
Vacant land and urban voids—including some in the historic center—could be considered opportunities for green infrastructure and improved permeability.
Planning, she argued, should treat the city as an interconnected ecological system that includes people, plants, wildlife, soil, and water—not as a place designed exclusively around human construction.

Self-produced housing in urban peripheries

Dr. Mauricio Velasco Ávalos discussed self-produced housing and the relationship between residents and their peripheral neighborhoods.

He described many kinds of peripheries, from older neighborhoods and informal settlements to luxury subdivisions and self-built areas.
Self-production is a major way housing is created in Mexico. The speaker cited estimates that more than half of the country’s homes are self-built or self-produced.
These homes often develop gradually over many years, using household resources and sometimes without formal technical assistance or financing. Families adapt the house as their needs and resources change.
Common construction features include cement, concrete, partition walls, and steel windows or doors; construction may be unfinished or change as materials become available.
The presenter stressed that self-production has symbolic and social importance: building a home can represent family progress, provide a future inheritance, and support relationships among relatives and neighbors.
Social networks may help families with childcare, construction, and daily life. These benefits can make self-production preferable to moving elsewhere, even when the home has physical deficiencies.
At the same time, peripheral settlements can lack infrastructure, services, historic references, and public or cultural spaces. Residents may regard gradual construction as normal and may not describe poor conditions as housing-related stress.
The speaker’s core point was that assessments of adequate housing should recognize both material shortcomings and the social, cultural, and intergenerational meaning of self-produced homes.

Population aging, housing, and urban infrastructure

Dr. Georgina Cárdenas Pérez and Dr. Luis Antonio Ramírez Carrillo focused on the growing older population and whether existing housing and cities meet its needs.

The presenters described rapid population aging in Mexico, alongside substantial geographic differences caused by migration, economic change, and displacement.
They argued that aging is not merely a future challenge: older people already live in many rural communities and urban neighborhoods where services and support are limited.
In Yucatán, many older residents live in Mérida, while others are dispersed across smaller municipalities. Within Mérida, a substantial share live in older, more central neighborhoods.
Housing is often family property and inherited, so older people may remain in aging homes even when there are structural problems, leaks, or risks of falls and flooding. Residents may report satisfaction because the home is theirs, despite needed repairs.
The presenters said that urban planning often focuses on peripheral poverty and younger households, making older residents in established neighborhoods less visible.
They called attention to isolation, disability or mobility limitations, gendered poverty, and the difficulty of reaching services. In some rural areas, violence and geographic isolation add further barriers.
Their argument was that housing and urban policy should identify where older people actually live and address maintenance, accessibility, services, care, and neighborhood conditions.

Yucatán’s housing regulations and planning challenges

Architect Alfredo José Alonso Aguilar discussed the state’s regulatory framework and its limits.

He described rapid urban expansion, land speculation, and housing costs that place many homes beyond the reach of local residents, particularly those with lower incomes.
He reported that many Yucatán municipalities lacked current urban-development plans, limiting their ability to guide development or respond to housing needs.
Urbanized land and the housing stock have expanded substantially, especially around Mérida and other growth areas, often at the expense of natural ecosystems and ejido land.
The speaker pointed to a contradiction: housing shortages coexist with large numbers of vacant homes and underused properties in established urban areas.
He also highlighted informal settlements in risk-prone locations and deficiencies in housing conditions, including leaks, dampness, cracks, and inadequate adaptation to heat and humidity.
In his view, some building standards are outdated and do not adequately reflect local climate, residents’ needs, or appropriate housing dimensions.
Municipalities may lack trained staff, budgets, and regulatory tools, while development beyond the urban core can lengthen commutes and indirectly shift infrastructure costs onto the public.
He concluded that planning instruments must be more relevant to people’s daily lives and address practical needs such as access to schools, work, clinics, play areas, and other services.

Final presentation announced

The program then introduced Dr. Amina El Mecawi, Dr. Luis Ramírez, and Dr. Gertrudis Guzmán. Their presentation begins in the subtitles, but the supplied text ends before its subject or main points are given.

Speakers and sources featured

Speakers

Opening host or presenter — not identified by name in the subtitles
Dr. Jorge Pacheco Castro
Dr. Mauricio Domínguez Aguilar
Dr. Ligia María Herrera River
Dr. Delia Yolanda Ordazia
Dr. Roberto Reyes Pérez
José Luis Cocón Herrera
Architect Gabriela Carrera Pérez
Dr. Erika Elizabeth Pérez Musquis
Dr. Mauricio Velasco Ávalos
Dr. Georgina Cárdenas Pérez
Dr. Luis Antonio Ramírez Carrillo
Architect Alfredo José Alonso Aguilar
Dr. Amina El Mecawi — introduced; presentation not included in the supplied subtitles
Dr. Gertrudis Guzmán — introduced; presentation not included in the supplied subtitles

Sources, institutions, and frameworks mentioned

UN-Habitat
INEGI
IPCC
Inside Airbnb and short-term-rental platform data
Federal Electricity Commission (CFE)
World Bank
Burgess’s concentric-zone model
Hoyt’s sector model
Harris and Ullman’s multiple-nuclei model
Other urban-growth and gated-community frameworks discussed by the presenters, including work attributed in the subtitles to Deler and Meyer and Bär

XIX FORO DE DESARROLLO URBANO Y VIVIENDA

Key takeaways