The urban-rural relationship of the Tesistan Valley: Peri-urban configuration of the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara

Abstract

Farming in Mexico has ceased to be the primary activity for a large sector of the rural population. Agrarian public policy has not favored the rural sector even though it is better connected to urban and metropolitan areas. Planetary urbanization is a process with an impact on regions and localities, so this article shows the transformation of the peri-urban areas of fast-growing cities in Mexico, taking the case study of Tesistán, in the municipality of Zapopan within the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara (MAG). The aim of this section is to analyze the farming panorama of the Tesistán Valley based on local and national agricultural policies. Starting from the question: How does agriculture in the Tesistán Valley lose its predominance and cease to be a primary activity in the face of urban housing pressure? As results, the analysis of three ways of establishing the rural/urban relationship is presented: demographic, land use, value and change, and economic activities. As a finding, on the one hand, it is stated that the peri-urban area has a predominantly urban influence, however, the rural dimension persists due to the cultural traits that tradition imprints in rural towns and communities. On the other hand, peri-urban agriculture as an economic activity is characterized by a monopolized and technologically specialized activity, and responds to policies of detriment and abandonment, with a predominance of economic tertiarization.