Towards a morphology of territorial borders; crosschecking socio-spatial segregation and urban imaginaries, in San Pedro Garza Garcia, NL

The following investigation will study the association between the concept of spatial borders and socio-spatial segregation (as a mirror of social inequality), by analyzing the municipality of San Pedro Garza García N.L. (SPGG), in northeastern Mexico. These borders will be studied from a physical, topological and urbanistic approach. Also, phenomenology of the boundaries will be examined, by the inclusion of urban imaginaries. As differential elements of previous works of study, political borders and metropolitan limits will not be analyzed. Instead, a smaller scale will be the main focus, aiming to the examination of more inconspicuous interurban borders —folds in the urban fabric— at neighborhood level.
We have as a starting point the notion of socioeconomic polarization phenomena reaching worldwide scale, as prevailing macroeconomic conditions since late XXth century have visibly (and offensively) aggravated the division between rich and poor. México follows suit: a country of contrasts, with a great socioeconomic gap between the rich elite and the population in extreme poverty. In the local context, the case study of SPGG is very eloquent; one of the municipalities with the highest per capita income in the country as well as the highest Human Development Index, while being one of the smallest city-municipality in the Monterrey Metropolitan Area (AMMty), second only to San Nicolás de los Garza. It is true that SPGG has nearly accomplished the task of poverty eradication (unthinkable in the general context of México), but even so, this city has a seriously high index of economic inequality in the country. It is evident that the limited territorial extension, and the historic character of SPGG as a suburb developed for the richer families of Monterrey can be accounted for this characteristic.
This investigation will be guided by three specific objectives: 1. To identify patterns between the physical and perceived boundaries within the morphology of the urban fabric of SPGG; 2. To stablish the relationship between topologic borders and the city limits in the urban imaginaries amongst the citizens of SPGG, and 3. To determine a taxonomy of borders and urban boundaries in SPGG. This study aims to answer the question: How is territorial and (physical, geographic, psychological, phenomenological) border morphology linked with segregation dynamics in SPGG?
As a factor of social transcendence, this study looks forward to generate key data for several secretaries in the city (Secretaría de Ordenamiento y Desarrollo Urbano, Dirección de Imagen Urbana, Secretaría de Desarrollo Social y Humano, Sistema para el Desarrollo Integral de la Familia) valuable as an element to help detect, prevent and fight social exclusion and spatial segregation.