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Protest has been both a practice of citizenship rights as well as a means of social pressure for change in the context of Mexico City's water system. This paper explores the role that citizen protest plays in the city's response to its water challenges. We use media reports of water protests to examine where protests happen and the causes associated with them. We analyze this information to illuminate socio-political issues associated with the city's water problems, such as political corruption, gentrification, as well as general power dynamics and lack of transparency between citizens, governments, and the private businesses which interact with them. We use text analysis of newspaper reports to analyze protest events in terms of the primary stimuli of water conflict, the areas within the city more prone to conflict, and the ways in which conflict and protest are used to initiate improved water management and to influence decision making to address water inequities. We found that water scarcity is the primary source of conflict, and that water scarcity is tied to new housing and commercial construction. These new constructions often disrupt water supplies and displace of minority or marginalized groups, which we denote as gentrification. The project demonstrates the intimate ties between inequities in housing and water in urban development. Key words: Conflict, protest, Mexico City, scarcity, new construction
ContributorsFlores, Shalae Alena (Author) / Eakin, Hallie C. (Thesis director) / Baeza-Castro, Andres (Committee member) / Lara-Valencia, Francisco (Committee member) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
On the Arizona-Sonora border, more than 3,000 bodies have been recovered in the 21st century as a result of a fatal government policy that forced migrants into the desert rather than crossing in urban corridors. Humanitarian aid organizations are stretched across thousands of square miles with virtually no resources, particularly in the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge (Cabeza Prieta), a deadly wildlife refuge in Arizona's West Desert. A lot is unknown about the West Desert, particularly from a human rights perspective of trying to strategize the distribution of humanitarian aid. One question is of particular importance, where does water already exist in Cabeza Prieta, and what is the quality of that water? In this paper, I will discuss the process of surveying water sources in Cabeza Prieta, display photos and maps to convey what I've learned from my fieldwork, and finally, discuss my findings and delve into a geographical analysis, focusing on the relation between human remains recovery sites and water sources.
ContributorsLeon, Gabriel Carlos (Author) / Warren, Scott (Thesis director) / Larson, Kelli (Committee member) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05