In 2005, the Regional Plan Association, a non-profit organization created in 1922, launched the America 2050 initiative, with the purpose of integrating in a great document created by business leaders, municipal, state governments and federal governments, as well as the great universities, that had the vision of the public and private policies and investments necessary to sustain the growth of the United States in the 21st century.
Explains RPA: America 2050 is a national initiative to develop a framework for America’s future growth and development by 2050 in the face of rapid population growth, demographic change, and infrastructure needs in the 21st century.
A major focus of America 2050 is the rise of mega-regions: large networks of metropolitan areas are seen as the new competitive units in the global economy.
In this context, RPA incorporates 11 mega-regions, which include Canada and Mexico in those dimensions, and which at that date had a total of 280 million inhabitants.
What is very interesting about this analysis is that in three of the 11 mega-regions, Mexico is an important player; These three mega regions are:
Gulf Coast Mega Region. It includes the entirety of two metropolitan areas that straddle the US-Mexico border, specifically Matamoros–Brownsville and Reynosa–McAllen.
Mega Region of Southern California. Includes the entire Tijuana area.
Mega region of the Texas Triangle. Made up of Dallas, San Antonio and Houston and up to El Paso and Cd. Juárez, Chihuahua.
The expected growth for 2050 in these mega-regions is exponential, here we must ask ourselves, what are we Mexicans doing to join that growth?
The opportunities are enormous, in infrastructure, education, health, technological and aerospace development and, of course, with all this growth, a large number of services are required. This vision is designed so that all the members of each of these areas prepare for that growth.
Will we Mexicans go in the same direction and speed? It seems that we are not even aware of it. _
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