Cause and Effects of Rapid Urbanization in Latin America in the Last Half Century

Cause and Effects of Rapid Urbanization in Latin America in the Last Half Century

Introduction

During the last half century, most of Latin America may have been rural, but Latin American cities rivaled any in the world in size. These cosmopolitan centers were at once splendiferous and horrifying. Often situated in physically beautiful settings with impressive colonial architecture, they also were unsanitary and dangerous, filled to overflowing with poverty-stricken people. The cities were crucibles of change, for it was in the urban areas that modernization most directly confronted tradition—especially in the realm of gender roles and relations. It was in the cities that the transformation of the role of women was most dramatic. This paper discusses cause and effects of rapid urbanization in Latin America in the last half century.

Discussion

From 1950's to 2000, a new region of urbanization has come to the forefront: the U.S.-Mexican border. For most of its history, the border region featured a sparse population and limited economic opportunities. During the late nineteenth century, the area began to see an increase in population and economic activity in connection with American investment and the expansion of the economy in the southwestern United States. This connection was to continue throughout the twentieth century. The border towns not only offered improved economic opportunities; they also served as a jumping-off point for Mexican workers migrating to the United States for employment. Mexican workers returning from the United States often stayed in border towns either permanently or until their next trip to the United States. When U.S. officials forcibly returned Mexican workers, as they did in the 1930s and 1950s, they typically were returned to Mexican border towns. [1]

Border urbanization received a major boost with the advent of the ...