As a factor contributing to air pollution, though, this is hard to change. The people living in Mexico City, and therefore the economy of the city itself, depend on these industries to support themselves. Beyond the pollution these industries create themselves, they also attract even more people to come to Mexico City for the employment they provide. The industrial economy of Mexico City, though, is just one factor contributing to air pollution.
As the industry of the city attracted workers, these people needed a place to live. Rather than building up, in the form of apartment buildings and skyscrapers, Mexico City expanded out. The population grew rapidly, occupying land increasingly far from the historic center. This expansion outward made it necessary for almost all workers to have a car in order to commute to their jobs. Public transportation does exist, but it is not the norm in Mexico City for people to use it for their daily commute to work. These personal vehicles, all three and a half million of them, in the Mexico City metropolitan area also contribute to the forty million liter of fuel consumed by the city each day. The larger area that the city occupies also makes it hard for services such as trash removal to take place efficiently. Due to this, many people in Mexico City burn their trash, which also ends up contributing to the city's air pollution problem. The layout of Mexico City is another contributor to the city's ongoing problem with air pollution.
Industries in Mexico City attracted millions of workers from all over the country and caused the city to expand, leading to air pollution. But why did so many industries choose to locate themselves there? A number of factors contribute to this. One factor is the loose regulation of industries regarding air pollution in Mexico as a whole, and loose enforcement of the regulations that do exist in addition. The absence of these restrictions make Mexico City a cheaper place to operate than other places.
