Mexican cities facing population growth: towards a restructuring of urban hierarchies (1990-2020)[Les villes mexicaines face à la croissance démographique : vers une recomposition des hiérarchies urbaines (1990-2020)]

The article analyzes urban growth and hierarchies in Mexico between 1990 and 2020. Since 2010, around 80% of the population has been inhabiting urban areas, a level comparable to North American and European standards. During this period, population growth has decelerated in municipalities with over one million inhabitants, while medium-sized cities have experienced an increase in relative importance. The present study utilizes historical census data from the Mexican National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) to examine how demographic shifts have reconfigured the urban system. The methodology employed combines rank-size estimations, growth-rate indicators, and cartographic analysis at the municipal level. At the national level, the results of the study highlight a dual dynamic. On the one hand, population growth remains predominantly concentrated in metropolitan areas and large urban agglomerations. However, the primatial model that previously prevailed has gradually given way to a more diversified hierarchy. This analysis underscores a partial shift in population density from central municipalities to their peripheral areas, indicative of a renewed metropolitan concentration process. The case studies of Valle de México, Monterrey, and Guadalajara serve to refine this depiction by illuminating how these national trends are reflected in the three largest metropolitan areas. Metropolitan growth, understood as urban expansion within a metropolization context, has the effect of simultaneously creating distance between demographic expansion and historic centers while strengthening large metropolitan areas as central nodes in the national hierarchy. This strengthening occurs, however, through distinct metropolitan trajectories. This observation gives rise to novel inquiries regarding the mechanisms underpinning the relationships between demographic change, metropolitan restructuring, and local disparities.