Editing Mexico City (section)

=== 20th century to present ===

[[File:Casa_Estudio_Diego_Rivera_y_Frida_Kahlo_(2566206309).jpg|thumb|left|Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera house in [[San Ángel]] designed by [[Juan O'Gorman]]]]

In the 20th century the phenomenal growth of the city and its environmental and political consequences dominate. In 1900, the population of Mexico City was about 500,000.<ref name="LaRosa 2005">{{Cite book |title = Atlas and Survey of Latin American History. |editor-last = LaRosa |editor-first = Michael J. |year = 2005 |publisher = M.E. Sharpe, Inc. |pages = 118–125 |isbn = 9780765615978 }}</ref> The city began to grow rapidly westward in the early part of the 20th century<ref name="Enc Mex 2000" /> and then began to grow upwards in the 1950s, with the [[Torre Latinoamericana]] becoming the city's first skyscraper.<ref name="Ciudad Mexico" />

The rapid development of Mexico City as a center for [[modernist architecture]] was most fully manifested in the mid-1950s construction of the [[Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City]], the main campus of the [[National Autonomous University of Mexico]]. Designed by the most prestigious architects of the era, including [[Mario Pani]], [[Eugenio Peschard]], and [[Enrique del Moral]], the buildings feature murals by artists [[Diego Rivera]], [[David Alfaro Siqueiros]], and [[José Chávez Morado]]. It has since been recognized as a [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Central University City Campus of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1250/ |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=11 November 2023 |archive-date=29 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231029064104/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1250 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[1968 Summer Olympics|1968 Olympic Games]] brought about the construction of large sporting facilities.<ref name="Enc Mex 2000" /> In 1969, the [[Mexico City Metro]] was inaugurated.<ref name="Ciudad Mexico" /> Explosive growth in the population of the city started in the 1960s, with the population overflowing the boundaries of the Federal District into the neighboring State of Mexico, especially to the north, northwest, and northeast. Between 1960 and 1980 the city's population more than doubled to nearly 9&nbsp;million.<ref name="Enc Mex 2000" />

In 1980, half of all the industrial jobs in Mexico were located in Mexico City. Under relentless growth, the Mexico City government could barely keep up with services. Villagers from the countryside who continued to pour into the city to escape poverty only compounded the city's problems. With no housing available, they took over lands surrounding the city, creating huge [[shanty town]]s.

The inhabitants of Mexico City faced serious [[air pollution in Mexico City|air pollution]] and [[water pollution]] problems, as well as [[groundwater-related subsidence]].<ref name="water">{{Cite book |title = Mexico City's Water Supply: Improving the Outlook for Sustainability. |author = National Research Council Staff |year = 1995 |publisher = National Academies Press |location = Washington, DC |page = 4 }}</ref> Air and water pollution has been contained and improved in several areas due to government programs, the renovation of vehicles and the modernization of public transportation.
[[Image:Estudiantes sobre cammión quemado (A68).JPG|thumb|Students in a burned bus during the [[Tlatelolco massacre]] 1968]]
 
The autocratic government that ruled Mexico City since the Revolution was tolerated, mostly because of the continued economic expansion since World War II. This was the case even though this government could not handle the population and pollution problems adequately. Nevertheless, discontent and protests began in the 1960s leading to the [[Tlatelolco massacre|massacre of an unknown number of protesting students]] in [[Tlatelolco (Mexico City)|Tlatelolco]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Doyle |first=Kate |date=May 29, 2023 |title=TLATELOLCO MASSACRE: DECLASSIFIED U.S. DOCUMENTS ON MEXICO AND THE EVENTS OF 1968 |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB10/nsaebb10.htm |url-status=live |publisher=National Security Archive |access-date=30 May 2023 |archive-date=3 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203130342/https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB10/nsaebb10.htm }}</ref>

Three years later, a demonstration in the Maestros avenue, organized by former members of the 1968 student movement, was violently repressed by a paramilitary group called "[[Los Halcones]]", composed of gang members and teenagers from many sports clubs who received training in the US.
[[File:Paloma Cordero Nancy Reagan Mexico City 1985 earthquake.jpg|right|thumb|First ladies [[Paloma Cordero]] of Mexico (left) and [[Nancy Reagan]] of the United States (right) with U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, [[John Gavin]] observing the damage done by the [[1985 Mexico City earthquake|1985 earthquake]]]]

On 19 September 1985, at 7:19am [[Central Standard Time|CST]], the area was struck by the [[1985 Mexico City earthquake]].<ref name="Campus">{{Cite news |first = Yunnven |last = Campus |title = A 20 años del sismo del 85 |url = http://www.esmas.com/noticierostelevisa/terremoto/475688.html |publisher = Televisa |location = Mexico City |date = 19 September 2005 |access-date = 4 October 2008 |language=es |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080922025641/http://www.esmas.com/noticierostelevisa/terremoto/475688.html |archive-date = 22 September 2008 }}</ref> The earthquake proved to be a disaster politically for the [[one-party state]] government. The Mexican government was paralyzed by its own bureaucracy and corruption, forcing ordinary citizens to create and direct their own rescue efforts and to reconstruct much of the housing that was lost as well.<ref name="haber">{{cite encyclopedia |last = Haber |first = Paul Lawrence |encyclopedia = Concise Encyclopedia of Mexico |title = Earthquake of 1985 |year = 1995 |publisher = Taylor & Frances Ltd. |pages = 179–184 }}</ref>

In 1987, the [[Historic center of Mexico City]], a central neighborhood of Mexico City was enlisted as [[UNESCO World Heritage Site]] for its large collection of ancient Aztec and colonial architecture.

However, the last straw may have been the controversial elections of 1988. That year, the presidency was set between the [[Institutional Revolutionary Party|P.R.I.]]'s candidate, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, and a coalition of left-wing parties led by [[Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas]], son of the former president [[Lázaro Cárdenas]]. The counting system "fell" because coincidentally the power went out and suddenly, when it returned, the winning candidate was Salinas, even though Cárdenas had the upper hand.

As a result of the fraudulent election, Cárdenas became a member of the [[Party of the Democratic Revolution]]. Discontent over the election eventually led [[Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas]] to become the first [[mayor|elected mayor]] of Mexico City in 1997. Cárdenas promised a more [[democracy|democratic government]], and his party claimed some victories against crime, pollution, and other major problems. He resigned in 1999 to run for the presidency.