Mexico City: Prospering Megacity (The Takeaway)

Mexico City is one of the most densely populated cities in the world, with close to 20 million people living within its borders. For its residents, it is also an incredibly polluted place to live. As the population, and the pollution, grow, we ask: Will Mexico City, and all major global cities, survive the centuries? The ancient ruins and archaeological sites emerging above the pavement suggest yes. But it’s going to take some human effort to keep it that way. In recent years, there has been a push to make Mexico City a greener and more sustainable place to live. Fronteras reporter Adrian Florido reports on this movement on the ground.

On February 17, 2011, Victor Rolon’s life changed forever. His nephew, police officer Adrian Dominguez Rolon, disappeared, along with a fellow officer. His story has become all too common in Mexico, where 26,000 people have gone missing in the past six years. The disappearances are linked to the enormous surge in violence since the government began cracking down on drug cartels. Earlier this month, mothers of the disappeared embarked on a two-week a hunger strike in Mexico, demanding that Mexico’s attorney general do something about the thousands who have gone missing. And next month, a conference addressing the seriousness of the situation will be taking place at the University of Coahuila, in cooperation with the Government of Coahuila, and Furerzas Unidas por Nuestros Desaparecidos (in English: Forces United for our Disappeared). But even as the disappeared are starting to receive the attention they deserve - they’ve yet to be returned - and those who are waiting, like Victor Rolon, want justice - and answers. The Mexican federal police did not respond to our request for comment. And Human Rights Watch, which has been documenting Adrian's story, says the Mexican government has no official response on this case.

In Mexico City, when one person here talks about sustainability, people really listen. Dr. Mario Molina won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1995 for his work exposing the effects of chlorofluorocarbons on the environment. CFCs from aerosol products were threatening the planet and he sounded the alarm.  Today, Molina is trying to help save Mexico City from itself. He's leading an effort to keep the air above Mexico City clean, and the growth of the city sustainable.

In an art studio in Mexico city - a city synonymous with drugs and violent crime - there is an artist transforming weapons into art. An electric guitar is made out of  pieces of guns, clips from AK 47’s barrels, rifles, and 9 mm pistols. It's the art project and inspiration of Pedro Reyes, a trained architect who is taking power over the violence in his country by transforming weapons into something harmless but still powerful.  Reyes' art collection, "Disarm," and his reputation for socially-minded, collaborative and participatory artworks are making waves in Mexico City and beyond. 

Later this week, we’ll be bringing the Takeaway to Mexico City, Mexico. In anticipation of our visit, we’re looking today at the state of the border. Depending on who you ask, the border might be defined as a barrier that should be guarded against those crossing over. Alternatively, it might be seen as a meeting point between two countries who have the potential to trade resources. But the border is also something bigger: a place where people live, and an idea that people contest. In an attempt to look at the border from a more holistic perspective, the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Mexico Institute has published, “The State of the Border Report.” One of the authors, Christopher Wilson, shares some of the report's findings.