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Rating: 
Summary: A vital resource on the development of Mexico City
Review: This is a book for serious scholars interested in the history of the development of Mexico City as an Urban area. Davis provides a very comprehensive history that is incredibly valuable for students of urban development and urban politics, as well as people interested in Mexico City and Mexican development in particular. Her study is rooted in an enormously detailed research process but is informed by an acute understanding of political processes. In particular, while her history goes back to the beginnings of the city and brings us almost to date, she spends a lot of time discussing one of the most important (and overlooked) figures in the history of Mexico City, Ernesto Uruchurtu, who was mayor of the city for 14 years during its period of most dramatic growth (from 1952 to 1966). She also spends a lot of attention discussing the politics of transport in the city, which is obviously of great importance to urban development. My only critique is that she could have put more attention on the importance of the informal economy (street vendors and informal taxi and mini-van service) in the development of the city, since these were of vital consequence in changing the urban environment, often against the desires of city officials. For example, street vendors forced changes in urban use patterns and the city has had to respond by changing traffic patterns and also by spending huge sums of money in market construction programs. Informal mini-van service has been one of the most important factors in urban transort, allowing millions of urban residents to get to and from school and work, and has yet to be adequately studied, in particular because it made the growth of the city--whether legal or informal--possible by giving residents in even very new areas the possibility of communication with other areas of the city. Still, this is one book I HAD to have to carry out my own research in Mexico City.
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