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Journal of Clinical and Experimental Toxicology | Volume: 2
December 03-04, 2018 | Dubai, UAE
International Conference on
6
th
International Conference on
Toxicology, Clinical Toxicology & Pharmacology
Recycling & Waste Management
Joint Event
&
Urban environmental problems affecting quality of life in cities of the central west region of Mexico:
Security, resilience and integral risk management
Adrián Moreno Mata
Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, México
C
ities around the world face numerous environmental
health problems, such as air, water and soil pollution,
traffic congestion, noise, urban amplification of heat waves and
poor housing conditions, aggravated by unsustainable urban
development and climate change. The urban environment
implies health risks, insufficient distribution and unequal
accessibility to urban amenities, and clear differences
between different groups of the population regarding risks
and vulnerability to environmental disasters. It is also an
auspicious space to marginalization and segregation, especially
of the less favored social classes. In Latin America, the
problems that affect cities are very diverse, but could include
the inefficient functioning of mobility and transport networks
and their impact on air pollution, inequity in distribution and
access to green public spaces, the deficiency in the quality
and coverage of the potable water, drainage and urban
sanitation systems, the lack of planning and control in the
changes of land use and a growing demand for social housing.
But cities also generate opportunities for economic and
social development, and promote creativity and innovations
that allow balancing the relationship between costs and
benefits of living in an urban environment. Undoubtedly, the
growth of cities is driven by expectations of an improvement
in the quality of life of its residents, in access to equipment
and infrastructure, and in policies and actions aimed at
solving the most common problems that affect urban life.
In this context, the conference addresses the cases of six
metropolitan areas of the Central - Western Region of Mexico:
Guadalajara, León, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí, Aguascalientes
and Zacatecas. During the last two decades, these cities
have observed an upward trend in urban competitiveness
and productivity, a notable economic consolidation and
the development of important industrial conglomerates -as
in the case of the manufacturing, automotive, aerospace
and electronic sectors-. Likewise, its economy diversified,
encompassing the services, tourism and transport and
commercial exchange sectors. Additionally, of the 40 cities
where the creative class is concentrated in Mexico, five of the
selected metropolitan areas achieved a locational coefficient
greater than one. However, recent studies indicate that, as a
result of globalization and the existence of local governments
with low performance, the benefits of economic growth and
competitiveness in these cities have not been widespread so
far to all its inhabitants, generating a marked inequality in the
quality of life of the different strata of the population, processes
of exclusion and urban segregation, and a polarization between
thewinning socioeconomic groups and losers of globalization. In
addition, the presence of an expansive, diffuse and fragmented
urban model is observed, characterized by a pattern of
land consumption above the national and regional average,
and processes of degradation of the urban environment.
The objective of the conference is to intervene in the debate
on urban environmental problems that affect the quality
of life in cities, to discuss the links between the social and
environmental determinants of human health in urban
environments, and to analyze the possible sustainable
alternatives that, from the perspective of Smart Urban
Governance could promote security, resilience and integrated
management of environmental risks in Mexican cities.
e:
adrian.moreno@uaslp.mxToxicology 2018 & Recycling 2018, Volume 2
DOI: 10.4066/2630-4570-C1-003