The Urban Development Plan (PDU) in Playa del Carmen has already exceeded all its criteria due to the municipality’s rapid growth, as has the Local Ecological Zoning Program (POEL). Therefore, a balance must be struck to ensure it aligns with demographic planning programs, so that cities like this tourist destination do not fall into the disorder and public health system problems seen in India, nor do they reach the extremes of Scandinavian countries, where native populations no longer want to have children, agreed José Luis Cortés Delgado, former president of the Federation of Colleges of Architects of the Mexican Republic (FCARM) (2017-2018).
International Examples for the PDU in Playa del Carmen
In his extensive professional experience, José Luis Cortés Delgado has developed urban development plans in various cities around the world and stated that there are many examples for Playa del Carmen illustrating what happens when there is a large and small population.
He indicated that the reality of Playa del Carmen is its growth, noting that it had 25,000 inhabitants in 1992 and now has almost half a million.
“It has grown a lot, and therefore, everyone has to analyze and face their own challenges, which are the challenges of very rapid growth,” he said.
José Luis Cortés mentioned that Playa del Carmen’s defining characteristic is the beauty of its environment, and it is necessary to moderate this growth so that the jungle and transportation infrastructure are not damaged.
The Urban Development Plan (PDU) in Playa del Carmen faces challenges due to the rapid growth that has taken the municipality from 25,000 to almost half a million inhabitants.
The architect emphasized that Playa del Carmen must accept its challenges and prepare to cultivate the people needed for orderly growth.
“Each city has to tell its own story. There are cities that are declining, with fewer than 200,000 people in the country, and people are migrating,” he said.
He emphasized that Mexico needs to be prepared because, while the Mexican Republic currently has around 130 million inhabitants, demographers have predicted that the nation will grow to 150 million by 2050.
Urban Development Plan (PDU) in Playa del Carmen faces challenges due to the rapid growth that has taken the municipality from 25,000 to almost half a million inhabitants.
Urban Development Plan (PDU) in Playa del Carmen faces challenges due to the rapid growth that has taken the municipality from 25,000 to almost half a million inhabitants.
“In short, the world will have 2 billion more inhabitants by 2050, almost 20 million more than Mexico. So, where are we going to accommodate those 2 billion people if they need food, healthcare, and so on?” he explained.
He indicated that these people will definitely be in areas of Mexico with more jobs and opportunities, and that the aforementioned figure aligns with natural population growth.
Internal Migration and Population Growth
The specialist mentioned that some countries are growing due to internal migration from rural areas to large cities.
José Luis Cortés is a graduate of the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) in Mexico and has completed studies in urban planning in Copenhagen, Denmark, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States.
Previously, he served as president of the Federation of Colleges of Architects of the Mexican Republic (FCARM) (2017-2018) and was most recently a member of the Council of the International Union of Architects (UIA) for Region III.
José Luis Cortés stated that each country must consider its own reality and that Mexico cannot be compared to other countries like China and India, which have more than 1.4 billion inhabitants.
Source: newsdaycaribe
