Urbanization and climate change: on the path of the construction of sustainable cities

Abstract

The article analyzes the contribution of large cities to climate change in the context of the global energy transition. This requires moving towards a post-fossil era of the economy and society, all of which implies qualitative transformations of these with respect to the natural and human-social environment; and, of course, implies new territorial (urban-rural) sustainable configurations. The characteristics of urbanization processes, present in the megalopolis of Mexico City, are discussed as an expression of the dominant global economic model and their respective socioenvironmental predatory practices. Likewise, the aggravating factors of global warming are studied, which could be reduced from the cities (in this case the city of Mexico and its metropolitan area), and strategies and actions are proposed to reduce the carbon footprint in those cities. It is concluded that, without the restructuring of the megalopolis, it will be impossible to move towards urban sustainability; what is required to go beyond mitigation and adaptation actions in facing climate change.