How Guadalajara, Mexico, Placed in the EIU’s Latin American Green City Index of 2010, with Updates
In 2010, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), sponsored by Siemens, put out a study
How Guadalajara, Mexico, Placed in the EIU’s Latin American Green City Index of 2010, with Updates
In 2010, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), sponsored by Siemens, put out a study entitled the Latin American Green City Index in which the environmental performance of 17 select cities in the region were analyzed. As an interesting aside, some 81% of the Latin American population lived in cities as of the publication of the study. The EIU assessment was spread across 8 categories: Energy and CO2, Land Use and Buildings, Transport, Waste, Water, Sanitation, Air Quality, and Environmental Governance. Quantitative and qualitative measures were used to rank each city, and Guadalajara (along with Lima, Peru) ended up at the bottom of the stack with an overall result of “well below average”. While that certainly doesn’t reflect well on the city, generally speaking, one must first realize there’s a problem before one can fix it. Another way to look at it is that there is a lot of room for improvement and opportunities to get involved for those who care to. Additionally, if you’re considering moving to Guadalajara, you’ll of course want to know what you might be getting into, and this study, its results, and any updates we provide here, can help with that.
Below, we outline the key findings from the study. If you would like more information about the study, we encourage you to read it for yourself. We stress that these are the results as published by the EIU in 2010. Many things have changed since then, and we’ve attempted to provide updates to the best of our abilities in each section to more accurately reflect the current state of things.
Energy and CO2 | BELOW AVERAGE
- At the time of the study, only 15% of electricity produced in Guadalajara came from renewable sources like hydropower. Online research suggests that this figure has not changed significantly since then.
- Significant manufacturing activities in the city meant a higher than average output, relative to the index average, of CO2 (333kg per capita).
- Guadalajara had not been regularly monitoring greenhouse gas emissions.
- The city did not have a climate change action plan of its own, although the study goes on to state that Jalisco, of which Guadalajara is of course the capital, was developing one.
Land use and buildings | AVERAGE
- The EIU noted a high number of green spaces in the city but a somewhat lax policy in maintaining them. Since then, we must admit that we have seen park renovations completed and some effort at park maintenance (upkeep, replanting, etc), with specific parks anyway.
- Guadalajara was found to protect environmentally sensitive areas from development to an extent by requiring all new development projects to pass an environmental impact study.
- No standards had been yet set for the eco-efficiency of buildings by private developers.
- Green standards had not yet been implemented for public building projects.
Transport | BELOW AVERAGE
- The mass transport system in Guadalajara at the time was shorter in total kilometers than the index average for the group of 17 cities.
- On the whole, this system had been suffering from underinvestment and a lack of coordinated planning.
- The introduction of bus rapid transit (BRT) happened the year the study was published and was a step in the right direction, the EIU remarked. This BRT is locally known as the Macrobús.
- Guadalajara lacked an integrated pricing system for public transport, and, frankly, still does.
- Tax cuts for car buyers in the last decade as of the publication of the report had negatively impacted public transport usage and boosted private transport usage. In fact, the city is above average in car ownership, relative to the group.
- In 2008, the city had started a ride-sharing program for public sector employees. We have found no evidence that this program still exists. Also in 2008, the city started a free bicycle-lending program called Pedalea Guadalajara (Pedal Guadalajara), complete with bike stations at various points in the city. It is unclear what happened to this program, but it has disappeared.
In the last few years, the city has been working on expanding its light rail (Tren Ligero) with a third line. Construction continues. Moreover, the SiTren (bus line integrated with the light rail) has seen expansion in both distance covered and number of buses on the road. Finally, while the Pedalea Guadalajara system has ceased to exist, the MiBici bicycle system launched last year. While it’s not free, it’s still fairly cheap and promises to stick around for a while.
Waste | AVERAGE
- More or less 100% of the city’s waste was being collected and disposed of, although the population had been generating 