Barriers to achieving the water and sanitation-related Millennium Development Goals in Cancun, Mexico at the beginning of the twenty-first century

This paper discusses some of the barriers faced by the city of Cancun, Mexico, to making progress towards Millennium Development Goal targets on extending safe water and basic sanitation. It analyzes the socioeconomic, political, demographic, environmental and land use dimensions that surround problems of access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation services in the city. These services are central to the health and well-being of Cancun's population, urban environmental quality and the city's economy, all of which are important components of sustainable development. These issues are considered within six zones in Cancun that relate to its different historical stages of development: areas that were urbanized (or fully served) before being settled (the hotel zone and mainland city centre); informal settlements that are fully or almost fully urbanized; and newer low-income squatter settlements on the urban periphery and in the peri-urban area. The paper shows the dramatic differences in the quality of provision for water and sanitation between different zones and how this depends on four factors: the present extent of infrastructure; the current social and economic development model; various institutional considerations; and the attitudes and behaviour of the social actors involved in the urbanization process. The paper concludes with some proposals on how to address deficiencies in water and sanitation services in Cancun.