Abstract:

In an increasingly urbanized world, cities have become platforms for innovation and change, particularly in developing countries. In Latin America and the Caribbean, emerging cities have taken center stage. While megacities face great challenges to distribute goods and services to large populations, intermediate cities provide a more sustainable alternative. Planning for their growth is one of the goals of the Emerging and Sustainable Cities (ESC) program at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which has supported more than 80 intermediate urban areas throughout the region. Hermosillo is the capital of the border state of Sonora. Located 280 km south of the U.S. border, Hermosillo has historically been influenced by bigger cities located in its northern neighbor, especially by Phoenix and Tucson. With 850,000 inhabitants, Hermosillo is not only the capital, but also the largest city—in demographic terms—of the state. It limits to the West with the Gulf of California and to the South with the Guaymas municipality, one of Mexico’s main ports in the Pacific Ocean.