Hello! My name is Mauricio and I am a ten year old boy living in Roma, a neighborhood in Mexico City where I live with 11 of my family members. You may have met us in the film Coco. Since that film ended, my family, like many Mexicans, migrated from small towns to the big city. 

I come from a whole family of shoe makers and cooks, my dad runs a shoe shop, and my mom and aunt co-own a food truck in the inner city where they sell the best tamales and tacos in Roma. This whole virus really changed how we do things around these parts; We have to wear masks, go to school online and be at home as much as we can. My family took me out of school for my safety, but I really miss my friends. 

Part One: City Overview

Mexcio City is built right on top of the Aztec capital city, Tenochtitlan. Before the Spanish arrived, this Aztec city was a splendid example of pre-Columbian civilization. The city was situated right on top of Lake Texcoco in the Valley of Mexico. The city is located in central Mexico, surrounded by rugged mountains and includes two lakes that overspread nearly the whole valley. While the Spaniards first arrived in Tenochtitlan in the early 16th century, Hernan Cortes described the city in his correspondence to  Charles V. Cortes marveled at the city’s complexity and described in detail how it was laid out.  Despite being awe of the city, Cortés wanted to impress the King and have the riches that would make his life better in Spain.  He captured and leveled Tenochtitlan, destroying the magnificent city and many of its peoples.

Mexico is densely urban. As of 2020, the percentage of people residing in urban areas in Mexico was roughly 83%. The percentage of people living in urban areas is also expected to increase throughout the years, with an estimation of 87% by 2050 (World Urbanization Prospects). Mexico City is the largest urban center in Mexico and it is important economically,  contributing almost one fifth of Mexico’s GDP.  It has one of the highest economic growth rates in the world, and its economy is expected to double in the next few years. Mexico City also produces more than half of the country’s industrial output, such as textiles, chemicals, furniture, plastics and metals, electronics assembly, and pharmaceutical products. It is important to note that tourism brings millions of dollars into the economy, as Mexico City has many bustling attractions including famous museums which are very affordable to visit (Mexico City).

Mexico City’s population grew from 13 million in 1980 to nearly 22 million in 2019. 

As one might imagine for a city this large, Mexico City has significant transportation problems. Since Mexico City is now the largest city in North America (nearly double the size of the L.A. metro area), there has been exceptional traffic congestion. People in Mexico City rely heavily on cars for commuting. There are nearly 5 million vehicles registered in Mexico City and another 5.1 million registered in the surrounding state of Estado de Mexico. Residents have also registered nearly 350,000 motorcycles and on average, residents of Mexico City spend 227 hours stuck in traffic a year (Flannery). Mexico City also operates a rapid transit bus system and an expansive subway system. The subway system runs 390 trains over 140 miles. There are an estimated 5.5 million riders on the system which is designed to accommodate 4.5 million people (Flannery).  Because of this, many residents rely on loosely regulated private vans, shuttles, taxis, and ridesharing services. Mexico City lacks the transportation infrastructure to transport people effectively and needs serious funding to address its urban mobility problems.

Mexico’s government historically tends to be authoritarian with very centralized power. Mexico City does not belong to any particular state, but all of Mexico. There are executive, legislative, and judicial branches in the Mexican government, but all the power lies in the executive branch. The president has all the power and is elected for one six year term. That being said, Congress has played a larger role since the late 20th century. The president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has been in power since 2018 and is a member of the National Regeneration Movement political party (Mexico City).

Cortes, Hernan. “Hernan Cortes: from Second Letter to Charles V, 1520.” Internet History Sourcebooks, Fordham University, 21 Jan. 2020, sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/1520cortes.asp

Flannery, Nathaniel Parish. “Mexico City Needs To Address Its Urban Mobility Problems.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 27 June 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/nathanielparishflannery/2019/06/27/mexico-city-needs-to-address-its-urban-mobility-problems/?sh=62c3dcad1480. 

“World Urbanization Prospects – Population Division.” United Nations, United Nations, population.un.org/wup/Country-Profiles/. 

“Mexico City.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 10 Nov. 2020, www.britannica.com/place/Mexico-City. 

Part Two: Character Overview

The person who lives inside our window is Mauricio, he is a 10 year old boy, who’s five feet tall, scrawny and has long hair. He loves music and anything related to mariachi music and his favorite holiday is Día de Los Muertos or Day of the Dead, which is a day of celebrating the people who have passed.

Roma, where Mauricio lives, was a originally planned as an upper-class neighborhood in the early 1900s. Around the 1940s, Roma became a middle-class neighborhood and slowly began to decline as wealthier families began to move into newer neighborhoods in Mexico City. In 1985, Mexico City experienced a massive earthquake and Roma was one of many neighborhoods that experienced a lot of damage to its buildings and architecture. Present day Roma has experienced a culture shift as it has become a destination for the younger generation. The neighborhood is filled with many modern clubs, bars, and restaurants. Additionally, there are efforts in the community to preserve much of the architecture from previous generations. 

Mauricio comes from a family of shoe makers and he goes to the city to shoe shine for folks to get some extra money. He lives in a medium sized house with 11 other family members( his two parents, his grandmother, his 2 siblings, his 4 cousins, his tio and tia). He shares a room with his siblings and youngest cousin due to space and he is being taught how to make shoes in order to carry on the family tradition.

Mauricio is a 10 year old boy that was born into a working class family in a small neighborhood in Mexico city. His Great Great Grandmother started a shoe making company in the 1940’s in order to support her family and bring food to the table. Once his great grandmother was married, her and her husband continued the shoe business and carried it on ever since. Mauricio’s dad is a shoe designer and his tio and cousin’s go to the countryside to receive more leather and supplies for the store. His mom and Tia, are in charge of making tamales and tacos for their food business in the center of the city. Women in Mexico have always been the heart and soul for cuisine and comfort food all around, specifically at the beginning of the twentieth century when women took over the role of head of household and kitchen, so it would an obvious answer that Mauricio’s mom and aunt have a pretty successful business selling tacos and tamales, especially to tourists that come to see the historical sites like Palacio De Bellas Artes or The Great Temple Site of Tenochtitlan. Mauricio, his siblings and his cousins all attend grade school throughout the day and come home usually around 3 o’clock. After they get home, they change, get something to eat and drink and then take the bus to the city for work. They scatter around the city and pick different public spots to market their family shoe store. Mauricio’s favorite spot to go to is The historic center plaza in Mexico city, because it is so full of culture, food, tourists, and especially music! He loves hearing music, seeing musicians, and seeing their play style. He offers the mariachi’s shoe services and they always tip well. Around 7 o’clock pm, their shift ends and they pack into their bus, get off at their stop and walk all the way home just in time for dinner.

Mauricio’s family chose to live in the city, due to there not being any customers in the villages of the countryside of Mexico. They thought if they were to save up money, move to the city and open their shop and food truck there, they would be able to make more money and live a comfortable life in a middle class neighborhood, safe from thieves and smugglers that would be seen more on the rural side of the country. They were able to find a perfect spot in the neighborhood of Roma, which is known for the art that is presented in their streets, also being dubbed the “Barrio Magico”, by the city. Additionally, Roma is considered one of the safest neighborhoods in the city. Mauricio’s family is also very tight, as they are always together, one person can’t go without the other and they are always there to help one another. This is important and common among Latin American families because family is so prioritized and important in Latino culture, that it’s rare that you see a kind of nuclear family type structure in Mexico like you see in the U.S.

Mauricio’s parents want him to carry on the family tradition and want him to become a shoe maker as well. They even train him on the importance of shoe fitting, leather picking and how to sew it together. They are very conservative when it comes to their children and lifestyle and they want Mauricio and his siblings to be the same, but Mauricio doesn’t want to become like his parents, He wants to be creative and make music and this is what causes a rift between his parents and him. As he grows older, he understands what his parents wanted him to do, but fortunately for Mauricio,  he became a well known musician and was able to pull his family from the middle class and finally gained the support of his parents.

“Coco.” Disney Movies, movies.disney.com/coco. 

Marcus, Joyce, editor. “Coyoacan.” Aztec City-States, by Mary G. Hodge, University of Michigan Press, ANN ARBOR, 1984, pp. 99–116. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.3998/mpub.11396116.12. Accessed 23 Nov. 2020.

“Palacio De Bellas Artes.” GET YOUR GUIDE, GET YOUR GUIDE, 1 Nov. 2020,

“Centro Historico: The Historic Center of Mexico City.” ViaHero, www.viahero.com/travel-to-mexico/historic-center-of-mexico-city. 

Part Three: Comparison of pre and post Urban Living Pre COVID-19

In this section, we describe the issues that Mauricio faced before COVID-19. We then discuss how Covid-19 impacted Mauricio.

We then simulate, with a question and answer format, questions that an urban design team would ask Mauricio in their quest to improve the city in the aftermath of COVID-19.

Our character, Mauricio, a ten year old boy living in Roma faced several problems prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. First and foremost, noise and air pollution is very prevalent in his neighborhood of Roma as well as the rest of Mexico City. Maricio’s parents do not allow the windows of their home to be opened for any reason. His grandmother lives in the house, who is highly susceptible to illnesses, so the family members must be careful not to allow air pollution to enter the house as best they can. A second problem that Mauricio faces in Mexico City is the substantial traffic congestion during his commutes to school/work. (Flannery) Mauricio sometimes spends several hours a day in traffic to commute in the city. He and his family are in favor of the government improving and developing the public transportation system; both roadways and public transport systems. This will help reduce traffic congestion in the city and allow him to return home faster to spend more time with his family. A third problem that Mauricio and his household members sometimes face is inconsistent running water, particularly during the dry seasons being in mid-October and ending in April. The Mexican state government recently issued a new regulation which would ration water in households to maintain enough water for others throughout the city. (Carrillo, 195) Given that Maricio’s family contains 11 family members, this can cause frustration in the household. A fourth problem that Mauricio faces in his neighborhood is gentrification. Roma is currently experiencing a dramatic shift in demographics, as younger adults are moving into the neighborhood because of its hipster environment as well as the development of nightlife entertainment. Mauricio has noticed for years that many of the older houses are being replaced with modern apartments in order to accommodate more living space for the young adults.  

During the early months of the COVID-19, the Mexican government did not take the infectious virus seriously.  However, as cases began to rise in Mexico the government started to restrict public access to certain businesses such as bars, museums, and theaters. Additionally, tourists from around the world were uncertain about travelling during a pandemic. This negatively affected Maricio’s shoe shining business, as well as mother’s food truck business, as they both relied heavily on tourists in order to perform their services. This caused a significant financial struggle for the family. Money was tight for the family, so various luxuries had to be removed from the budget to prioritize on paying for food, rent, utilities, etc,. 

Mauricio enjoyed learning at school and has aspirations to attend a university to further his passion for music.  However, his family discouraged him from attending school so that the family would not potentially be exposed to the virus. Mauricio also became more distant from his friends at school; his social life began to shrink. On the upside, the pandemic and encouraged isolation by his family allowed Mauricio to focus on his love for music. He kept the family entertained during these tough times with his incredible and unique guitar playing talent. He helped his family around the house and was also able to pick up a few skills in the shoemaking business as well. His father loved that Mauricio kept such a positive attitude, even though the family was struggling to make ends meet. During the pandemic, the family became closer than ever, and they enjoyed taking care of one another. 

If an urban planner were to ask our Mauricio about their urban living experience in Mexico City, questions regarding the city’s public transportation, healthcare, and government funded services would be beneficial to further analyze the current conditions in Mexico City. Several questions would include:

Q: How would you describe the level of traffic in your neighborhood, as well as various parts of the city in which you commute to? 

A: There is a ton of traffic in Roma as well as throughout the city. I commute to various parts of Mexico City to attend to school or to go to work in the historic district. I usually tend to use the public bus system in Mexico City to get where I need to go. The bus is always crowded and it can spend several hours in traffic while commuting, even when I am traveling only a couple miles. (Carrillo, 193) Additionally, because there is so much traffic throughout Roma, it can be a bit noisy during the night hours when the adults go out to bars and restaurants after work.

Q: Do you and your family have affordable access to healthcare? If so, what types of services do they offer? If not, how do you and your family handle life without healthcare?

A: Luckily, my family and I do have access to healthcare. However it is somewhat pricey, especially in order to cover my 11 other family members in the house. We only have the basic healthcare package which includes yearly checkups and covering a portion of the cost for medications. My family does not have much money to have premium healthcare coverage. My parents, tio, and tia encourage me to practice healthy habits in order to prevent me from getting sick and going to the hospital.

Q: What improvements or addition of services would you like to see implemented in your neighborhood/city?

A: I would like to also see the government possibly improve the public roadways throughout the city. (Carrillo, 196) From my experience as well as other family members, we sometimes spend several hours in traffic commuting in the city to go to work/school. Seeing improvements being implemented in the city would make my family and I happy knowing that we can spend more time together after returning from work/school.

Additionally, I would like to see the city government push more reforms for affordable and accessible healthcare. (Teleport) From my experience several of my friends in schools, including their families do not have healthcare. I have seen some friends miss school for several days/weeks in order to recover from a serious injury/illness. Though my family and I have access to healthcare it is certainly not cheap. I believe healthcare should be offered to everyone in the city and the surrounding towns as well. From what I was told by my grandmother and parents, healthcare in their home village was not easily available due to high costs, which they could not afford at the time. 

CARRILLO, MARIO MARTÍN DELGADO. “Mexico City, Mexico.” Finance and Governance of Capital Cities in Federal Systems, edited by ENID SLACK and RUPAK CHATTOPADHYAY, McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2009, pp. 164–197. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt80j1r.11. Accessed 23 Nov. 2020. 

Flannery, Nathaniel Parish. “Mexico City Needs To Address Its Urban Mobility Problems.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 27 June 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/nathanielparishflannery/2019/06/27/mexico-city-needs-to-address-its-urban-mobility-problems/?sh=62c3dcad1480. 

Teleport. “Quality of Life in Mexico City, Mexico.” Teleport Cities, Good Country Index, 1 Jan. 2020, teleport.org/cities/mexico-city/.