Mexico City’s Urban Core Faces Depopulation: 1.2 Million Residents Displaced Over Three Decades
Mexico City, August 18, 2026 – The central zone of Mexico City has seen a substantial decline in its population, losing 1.2 million residents between 1990 and 2020. This demographic shift is primarily due to a severe lack of affordable housing, which has forced inhabitants to relocate to the capital’s outskirts and various areas within the State of Mexico, particularly the eastern region. These findings were revealed in a comprehensive study conducted by researchers from the Center for the Future of Cities at Tecnológico de Monterrey.
Roberto Ponce, a research professor at the institution’s School of Government and Public Transformation, explained that while their analysis did not explicitly cover gentrification, it is strongly implied as a contributing factor. He noted that housing in the central areas has frequently transitioned from residential to commercial and service uses.
Ponce clarified that the displacement of residents is a multifaceted issue, predominantly concentrated within a 15-kilometer radius from the Zócalo. Although there is housing available, it remains largely unaffordable for the general population. He cited the example of a worker attempting to use an Infonavit (National Workers’ Housing Fund Institute) credit to acquire property in the city center, highlighting the disparity between available financing and housing costs.
The Phenomenon of Depopulation Expected to Continue
Ponce warned that this trend of depopulation is likely to persist in the coming years unless effective urban development plans and programs are implemented. He also indicated that the researchers’ study provides a foundation for further analysis into residents’ income levels, the locations of employment opportunities, and the reasons why younger generations are moving to the periphery while older adults tend to remain in the central areas of capital cities.
Yesterday, at the School of Government and Public Transformation, Tecnológico de Monterrey researchers launched ‘Centrar el Futuro’ (Centering the Future), a public platform designed to analyze the current state of central zones in 70 Mexican cities.
The study, which spanned four censuses and three decades of data, revealed that while the urban population nearly doubled over 30 years, this growth was not balanced. The central areas of these cities collectively lost 2.5 million inhabitants, with their share of the metropolitan population decreasing from over 40 percent to just 20 percent.
The document underscores that Mexican cities are expanding towards their peripheries, while their urban centers continue to lose population. This represents a sustained trend of depopulation in areas that already possess established infrastructure, services, amenities, and connectivity. Conversely, urban expansion creates new pressures on land use.
This translates to “housing further and further away, longer commutes, more expensive infrastructure, and unequal access to opportunities.” Consequently, researchers emphasized the critical need to develop a new urban model to counteract the ongoing outward expansion of cities.
The study included cities such as Aguascalientes, Toluca, Chihuahua, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Juárez, Delicias, León, Acapulco, Guanajuato, Chilpancingo, Tapachula, Saltillo, Pachuca, Uruapan, and Guadalajara.
Source: https://www.jornada.com.mx/noticia/2026/08/18/capital/perdio-12-millones-de-habitantes-la-zona-centro-de-la-cdmx-en-30-anos
