Mexico City

Owing to the city's high altitude it has an equable climate which suits visitors from more northerly regions, and its situation is breathtaking, seeming to lie at the foot of two magnificent snow-covered volcanoes rising to over 5000 m (16,000 ft), Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. The city preserves countless reminders of its past of more than 650 years, though pre-Columbian art and architecture exist almost solely in isolated fragments and museum reproductions, since the conquistadors built the nucleus of their new town on the ruins of the old Aztec metropolis of Tenochtitlán which they had destroyed. Against this, however, there are many churches and palaces of the colonial period, mainly in the Baroque style; and modern Mexican architecture is represented by numbers of fine buildings, particularly those of the 1950s and 1960s.

The city area extends for more than 40km/25mi from north to south and for an average of 25km/15mi from east to west. The Federal District (Distrito Federal; see entry), which is headed by a Regente directly responsible to the President, was created to establish the capital as a separate administrative unit but is no longer adequate to contain the city's northward growth, so that its new industrial suburbs extend into the neighbouring state of México.

Population

The city's rate of growth, primarily due to the influx of population from the agricultural regions to the north with their harsh climate, is enormous. The present population of Mexico City is estimated at almost 20 million (some estimates are as high as 26 million), making it the most populous city in the world. This over-population, combined with the increasing growth of industry - which, however, fails to produce enough jobs for those who need them - creates serious economic and social difficulties. The number of those seeking their fortune in the capital and being forced to live as "paracaidistas" (parachute-jumpers) and spend the nights huddled-up in the streets of the "cardboard city" district in the east of the capital, is estimated at about 2000 per day.

Environmental Problems

Traffic problems have been eased somewhat by the construction of the Metro and intersection-free roads such as the Anillo Periférico, a highway round the city, but conditions are still chaotic at peak periods. The number of vehicles on the city's roads is estimated at about 3.5 million. In addition to the motor car, environmentalists place much of the blame for the 11,000 tons of particles to which the inhabitants of Mexico City are exposed every day, on the 35,000 industrial concerns operating in Mexico's high-altitude valley. Many of these are located in the one and only outlet from the Anáhuac Valley, which might otherwise provide a source of much-needed fresh air. Instead, vast quantities of only partly filtered factory emissions blow across the city, contributing to a truly appalling state of affairs. The valley's once crystal-clear mountain air has been replaced by a bell-shaped cloud of pollutants, usually blotting out the view of the city's magnificent mountain backdrop while at the same time giving rise to streaming eyes and respiratory problems. Newspapers publish reports on air quality using the so-called IMECA index (on a scale from 1 to 500).

The federal government is now attempting to address the problem. Mexico spends 1 per cent of GDP on environmental protection, and the NAFTA Agreement incorporates measures against air and water pollution. Since the late 1980s a programme called "Un Dia sin Auto" - "A day without the car" - has been in operation (applying to tourists but not hire cars; note: they must be newer models). PEME