Forty years after its creation, the pole of tourist development in Cancun is the paradigm of economic success of tourism as the basis of the productive activity of the Mexican Caribbean coast, as well as of the state of Quintana Roo as a whole. At the same time, this pole is the clearest evidence of the impact that these kinds of activities are producing: economic and social disparities in the regions in which they are located. This situation creates socio-spatial segregation of settlements promoted by public policies, mainly to create new conditions of accumulation far from the social needs of the population. This article explores the experience of tourism development poles in Mexico in the context of socio-economic, cultural and particularly spatial manifestations registered from the mid twentieth century. In particular the process of creation and emergence of Cancun Pole is analyzed as Integrally Planned Tourism Development. The paper concludes that it is necessary to implement proper policies that confront the disparities between the main features of this urbanization process and the socio-territorial results observed nowadays.
Keywords:
Development policies, Cancun, Tourist destinations
Author Biography
Octavio Castillo Pavón, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México
Profesor Investigador de Tiempño Completo adscrito al Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados en Planeación Territorial de la Facultad de Planeación Urbana y Regional de la Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México
Castillo Pavón, O., & Villar Calvo, A. (2014). The state and the politics of the poles of tourist development: the case of Cancun, Mexico. Revista De Urbanismo, 16(31), Pág. 18–36. https://doi.org/10.5354/ru.v16i31.33059
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