Invisibilized Human Settlements: A Study of the Conceptualization and Measurement of Irregular Settlements in Mexico through Three Key Figures

Abstract

Mexico does not have an official national registry of irregular human settlements; however, the government has used various sources and data in an attempt to quantify this phenomenon. Although this has allowed the government to provide some figures, it has omitted an analysis of the underlying theoretical and methodological implications of these estimates, both to assess their scope and limitations and to clarify how the phenomenon of irregular settlements has been understood in the country. This study examines three figures found in government documents and official sources, using documentary review and content analysis to explore how the Mexican government has defined and measured irregular settlements. This is a relevant study because the absence of a national legal definition of these settlements, together with the lack of consensus on their operationalization, has become more pronounced following the recent ruling issued by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation on the need to generate specific information about these spaces. Among its findings, the article shows that: a) the concept of informal settlement promoted by international organizations must be adapted to the particularities of the Mexican case; b) Mexico has a diversity of definitions of irregular settlements in state legislation, which complicates any attempt at national measurement based on local records; c) the indicator of housing without deeds does not necessarily capture the conceptual complexity of irregular land occupation; and d) land-use regulation emerges as a central criterion in the definition of irregular settlements, linked to the country’s regularization policy.