The purpose of this study was to analyze strategies for sustainable development, and especially the opportunities and constraints for sustainable development in arid lands. This study examines how environmental, economic, political, and social factors influence regional development. Because of the complexity of the problem, a two-perspective interdisciplinary approach was used. First, from a historical perspective, a farming systems approach focuses on understanding the interaction of population, environmental, technological and institutional factors. Second, and from an economic perspective, a linear progranuning model examines the interaction of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as well as the Amendment to Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution in regional-level current and expected transformations. Research was conducted in central Sonora, located in northwest Mexico, one of the arid zones of the Sonoran desert. From colonial times to the early 20th century chaotic changes occurred in Sonora. These changes were influenced by cultural, environmental, and technological factors. Cultural differences between the indigenous Sens and Spaniards prompted a long period of conflict. Seris were a hunter-gatherer nomadic group, the Spanish conquerors searched for gold and minerals, and the later Mestizos were farmers and ranchers. The strategy of hunting-gathering not only permitted the Seris to cope with a hostile, arid climate, but also helped them resist Spanish efforts to colonize or exterminate them. In contrast, environmental barriers limited the introduction of agricultural systems into the Seri territory and limited the rapid conquest of the Sens as well. Nonetheless, the Seris were nearly exterminated as a result of this conflict, and their territory reduced to the coastal margins of the Gulf of California.

This thesis analyses the interface between sustainable development and trade openings and the liberalization of foreign investment in Mexico. The position to be argued throughout this thesis is that the Mexican legal framework, crafted to avoid further degradation of the environment as required by sustainable development, has proven to be limited in meeting the objectives established in the North America Free Trade Agreement and its side accord, the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation. This thesis analyses the provisions intended for the protection of the environment within the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the outcome of NAFTA's Chapter 11 investors dispute resolution mechanism and the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC) citizens' submission process concerning Mexico.

No description available.

Natural protected areas are places intended to protect nature, but it is now accepted that their social impact must be compatible with the ideals of 'sustainable development': they must conserve nature while improving, or at least not injuring, the socio-economic status of human communities. In Mexico, recent conservation policy has emphasized the creation of biosphere reserves, a type of protected area designed as a practical application of the concept of sustainable development. Previous research has shown that in Mexico and elsewhere, such reserves are often created in areas that are environmentally marginal and where, therefore, the lives and livelihoods of inhabitants are precarious at best. This makes the dual challenges of protecting nature and aiding social and economic development particularly acute. This study explores these challenges by considering the socio-economic patterns within protected areas along the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt of central Mexico. The study measured sustainable development, as indexed by the Mexican government, at both the regional and local scales, combining census data and interviews with residents in the Sierra Gorda Reserve. This combination of methodologies allowed for a fuller description of the social impacts of protected areas at different scales. The study found that while overall the lives of residents in or near natural protected areas improved steadily between 1990 and 2000, these areas are also characterized by high migration levels and an aging population, which may threaten the future sustainability of these communities. The study concludes by suggesting that migration is a key factor which should be included in Mexico's assessments of sustainable development, and that the concept of a community's social resilience is extremely useful in informing future studies.

The purpose of this study in 2002-2003 was to explore the relationships between individual and community empowerment and community development as reported by five government officials of the City of Oaxaca, Mexico, and by three community leaders, two NGO representatives, and three residents of Rinconada, an urban neighborhood on the outskirt of Oaxaca City. This study documents the dynamics of the Committee for Urban Life (COMVIVE), a community development program founded under the principle of resident participation. More specifically, this study describes the ways by which residents of the developing community of Rinconada were empowered by COMVIVE to participate substantially in community development initiatives.The Case Study research methodology was used to identify the setting, the unit of analysis, and the informants. Ethnographic procedures such as interviews, participant observation, and analysis of documents were used to collect, analyze, and report the evidence. Further analysis of the evidence was done with the help of ATLAS.ti, a computer program that allowed faster retrieval of interview information.The evidence presented suggests that the COMVIVE principles, structure, and process contributed to residents' empowerment to take action for community development. The COMVIVE program and its coordinators recognized and used the community organizational structure as the basis for resident participation, provided residents with a network of agencies and experts to access information and resources to undertake their projects, formed partnerships with residents and local NGOs, facilitated democratic decisions, provided tools to make development processes transparent and democratic, had a direct contact with residents, and facilitated residents participation in the decision-making process.The evidence also suggests that resident empowerment for community development is much more that involvement. It entails residents' control of their projects and responsibility to obtain appropriate information for decision making. In the context of low-income human settlements, having appropriate information is important for residents as they take actions to improve their living environments. Additional studies about empowerment for environmental improvement would add value to this study and inform practitioners to help plan and implement meaningful development programs. / Department of Educational Leadership

No description available.

This thesis develops quantitative indicators of environmental sustainability for Mexico City and its metropolitan zone of influence (MCMZ). These indicators of sustainability were developed by taking into account seven key variables for the urban environment: the water supply situation, air pollution, transportation and roads, energy, solid wastes, the housing supply and green areas. Based on these indicators and the history of the city's physical evolution since it was founded seven centuries ago, a desirable type of urban form is proposed, one in which there is a "decentralized concentration" which would allow Mexico City to approach sustainability in a time frame that concludes in or about the year 2030. Accordingly, the thesis proposes urban policy measures that, while addressing issues of sustainability, permit Mexico City to face the challenges of globalisation, which would entail transforming it into a "global city'' within a worldwide network of great cities. The urban policy and environmental measures that are recommended anticipate the largest economic, demographic and technological changes that will affect Mexico City, but are above all in harmony with the natural ecosystems of the elevated endorheic basin in which it lies. They do no call for a break with or the alteration of the city's natural landscape or its already constructed historical patrimony and, when possible, they presuppose a new sustainable hydraulic model, capable of restoring lakes and recharging the underground aquifer. Finally, a great deal of emphasis is placed on the recuperation of green areas in accordance with the basin's original natural vegetation. / Geography / D.Litt. et Phil. (Geography)

This thesis develops quantitative indicators of environmental sustainability for Mexico City and its metropolitan zone of influence (MCMZ). These indicators of sustainability were developed by taking into account seven key variables for the urban environment: the water supply situation, air pollution, transportation and roads, energy, solid wastes, the housing supply and green areas. Based on these indicators and the history of the city's physical evolution since it was founded seven centuries ago, a desirable type of urban form is proposed, one in which there is a "decentralized concentration" which would allow Mexico City to approach sustainability in a time frame that concludes in or about the year 2030. Accordingly, the thesis proposes urban policy measures that, while addressing issues of sustainability, permit Mexico City to face the challenges of globalisation, which would entail transforming it into a "global city'' within a worldwide network of great cities. The urban policy and environmental measures that are recommended anticipate the largest economic, demographic and technological changes that will affect Mexico City, but are above all in harmony with the natural ecosystems of the elevated endorheic basin in which it lies. They do no call for a break with or the alteration of the city's natural landscape or its already constructed historical patrimony and, when possible, they presuppose a new sustainable hydraulic model, capable of restoring lakes and recharging the underground aquifer. Finally, a great deal of emphasis is placed on the recuperation of green areas in accordance with the basin's original natural vegetation. / Geography / D.Litt. et Phil. (Geography)