Precarious Suburbanization: Perceptions of Infrastructure Supply and Living Conditions in Suburban fraccionamientos of Guadalajara, Mexico

ABSTRACT

Over the past 20 years the model of suburban gated communities has become increasingly popular throughout the metropolitan regions of Latin America. Initially a socially exclusive phenomenon, usually confined to upper class clientele, gated settlements have now reached the middle classes. The production and marketing of such settlements sometimes even addresses aspiring lower class households. The case of recently established fraccionamientos in the metropolitan region of Guadalajara (Mexico) is indicative of this trend. It has created new problems of infrastructural supply which would not have been attributed to “gated” living before. Based on a comparative study of suburban settlements of varying socio-economic status, this paper seeks to contrast recent problems of infrastructural supply with basic modes of problem perception and everyday coping strategies developed by local residents.

Keywords:

Coping strategies, fraccionamientos, gated communities, infrastructure, Mexico, perception, suburbanization, water.