Are Consolidated Informal Settlements Sustainable Forms of Urbanization? A Life-Cycle Assessment of Household and Transportation Energy Use in Isidro Fabela, Mexico City

The urban poor are disproportionately exposed to climate change even though low-income families contribute less to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Adger, 2006; Shrestha et al., 2014). In the case of Mexico City, the energy use... [ view full abstract ]

The urban poor are disproportionately exposed to climate change even though low-income families contribute less to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (Adger, 2006; Shrestha et al., 2014). In the case of Mexico City, the energy use of people and buildings in consolidated informal settlements, which emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, is relatively small. The central location of these consolidated informal settlements allows residents to access high-capacity transportation systems, such as subways (Ward et al., 2015). Also, people in these communities have developed a local retail economy that allows them to work in small local businesses and to access affordable food and commodities. Moreover, in consolidated informal settlements, the urban poor live in shared self-help buildings that they have gradually constructed over the past five decades. The central research question of this article is: what are the energy use and attending greenhouse emissions of people in self-help buildings in consolidated informal settlements in central Mexico City? The supporting research question is: what are the impacts of transportation access and local retail economies on the transportation energy use of people in these communities?

To address these research questions, the author completed a life-cycle energy assessment (LCA) with families living in self-help dwelling units in Isidro Fabela. Isidro Fabela, a consolidated informal settlement in central Mexico City, has a strong local retail economy and good transportation access to Bus Rapid Transit Systems, a commuter rail system, and a major freeway. In this article, preliminary results of the life-cycle energy assessment, which disaggregates GHG emissions that result from the household energy use and transportation energy consumption, are presented. To assess the extent to which low-income families use energy in self-help housing units, 60 household energy surveys were randomly conducted in Isidro Fabela. Energy questionnaires explore how much people pay for their electricity, gas, and water bills. The energy study also helps explain the characteristic of low-income families’ everyday practices of energy use in self-help housing units. Transportation energy usage was determined by randomly carrying out 60 origin-destination surveys in Isidro Fabela. Origin-destination questionnaires explore the variety of means of transportation that the members of the household use to commute to job, education, food shopping, and recreational locations. 

The author compared LCA findings with her previous LCA of government-financed housing developments located on the urban fringe of Mexico City developed in 2013. The LCA comparison suggests that low-income families in consolidated informal settlements use comparatively less energy than residents of government-financed housing developments located on the urban fringe. The key factor driving energy consumption in housing development is the extent which people have access to high-capacity transportation systems. The LCA findings indicate that Isidro Fabela, a consolidated informal settlement is a sustainable form of urbanization that allows low-income families to contribute less to climate change.