Megacities - Mexico City Full Documentary Megacities uncovers the rapid growth, new forms of spatial density of population, formal and informal economics as well as poverty, crime, and high levels of social fragmentation. Megacities takes a revolutionary look at the places where most of us live: the modern Metropolis. Megacities focuses on the single aspect of a city's infrastructure which best informs the life and functions of that place. Each city is examined as an organism: living, breathing, and growing. In order to survive, these infrastructures must each function independently, and yet blend into a harmony of man, machine, strategy and system, which defines it as a mega city. Megacities examines the infrastructure of eight iconic locations around the world: Las Vegas, Mexico City, Hong Kong, London, Paris, Sao Paulo, Mumbai and New York. Through dramatic storytelling, unparalleled access and sophisticated computer graphics blended seamlessly with live action, Megacities takes viewers beyond the monuments - and into the machinery - that is the true, living marvel of each mega city. Mexico City is the federal district (distrito federal), capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole. Mexico City is the country's largest city as well as its most important political, cultural, educational and financial center. As an "alpha" global city Mexico City is one of the most important financial centers in the Americas. It is located in the Valley of Mexico (Valle de México), a large valley in the high plateaus at the center of Mexico, at an altitude of 2,240 metres (7,350 ft). The city consists of sixteen boroughs. The 2009 estimated population for the city proper was around 8.84 million people, with a land area of 1,485 square kilometres (573 sq mi). According to the most recent definition agreed upon by the federal and state governments, the Greater Mexico City population is 21.2 million people, making it the largest metropolitan area in the western hemisphere, the eleventh largest agglomeration, and the largest Spanish-speaking city in the world. The Greater Mexico City has a gross domestic product (GDP) of US$411 billion in 2011, making Mexico City urban agglomeration one of the richest metropolitan areas in the world. The city was responsible for generating 15.8% of Mexico's Gross Domestic Product and the metropolitan area accounted for about 22% of total national GDP. As a stand-alone country, in 2013, Mexico City would be the fifth-largest economy in Latin America—five times as large as Costa Rica's and about the same size as Peru's. Mexico’s capital is both the oldest capital city in the Americas and one of two founded by Amerindians (Native Americans), the other being Quito. The city was originally built on an island of Lake Texcoco by the Aztecs in 1325 as Tenochtitlan, which was almost completely destroyed in the 1521 siege of Tenochtitlan, and subsequently redesigned and rebuilt in accordance with the Spanish urban standards. In 1524, the municipality of Mexico City was established, known as México Tenochtitlán, and as of 1585 it was officially known as Ciudad de México (Mexico City). Mexico City served as the political, administrative and financial center of a major part of the Spanish colonial empire. After independence from Spain was achieved, the Federal District was created in 1824. After years of demanding greater political autonomy, residents were given the right to directly elect the Head of Government and the representatives of the unicameral Legislative Assembly by popular vote in 1997. Ever since, the left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) has controlled both of them. In recent years, the local government has passed a wave of liberal policies, such as abortion on request, a limited form of euthanasia, no-fault divorce, and same-sex marriage.

• published: 01 Aug 2015
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