More than 50 percent of Merida’s population is experiencing symptoms of stress due to traffic chaos caused by excessive and disorderly growth cities and vehicles.
He Comprehensive Health Observatory, led by Jorge Zavala Castro, former director of the Hideyo-Noguchi Research Center, noted that a recent study he conducted showed that 38 percent of people suffer from insomnia due to stress from time to time; 10 percent recurring; and 15 percent mild or severe symptoms depression.
FOR THIS! published yesterday that Merida is on the brink of collapse, that urban growth is slipping through the hands of Mayor Renan Barrera, who has ruled the city for almost 10 years but has failed to stop urban problems. According to the register of motor vehicles National Institute of Statistics and Geography (Inegi)in 2012, the enterprise had 575 thousand 850 units, and in 2022 it reached 994 thousand 656, that is, it increased by 418 thousand 806, that is, by 72.7 percent over 10 years.
The official data shows an “explosion” in the number of units that, according to Dr. Zavala, make people sick. He said that the conditions of excessive and unorganized urban growth are an important factor in asking whether Merida is in a depression. Therefore, he emphasized that international studies show that in large cities that have grown without adequate planning, the percentage of citizens with mental disorders, such as anxiety, depression, suicide and others, is increasing.
He said that Merida is heading for a health disaster: “I do not rule out serious problems such as schizophrenia, bipolarity And dysthymiawhich are other mental illnesses that play an important role in our state,” he added.
In addition, over the past 30 years Mérida’s urban area has nearly doubled in sizefrom 8 thousand 121 hectares in 1990 to 15 thousand 388 in 2019, an increase of 89 percent. But that was until 2019. Inegi’s most recent data shows growth of 2.2 percent, and in terms of area, urban expansion totaled 7,267 hectares, nearly double what it was three decades ago.
meanwhile, 2020 Population and Housing Census shows that the growth of the enterprise reached 2 million 320 thousand 898 inhabitants with an annual growth of 1.8 percent. Merida has 995,129 inhabitants, and if we assume an annual growth rate of 1.8 percent, then in 2023 the city will have more than one million 29 thousand inhabitants.
Urban expansion of Merida It is also associated with environmental damage.to mass deforestation, which cannot be equated with attempts to restore forests with decorative trees in the alleys.
Zavala Castro mentioned that the World Health Organization in its chapter on City Healthmentions the need for one tree for every three residents and a minimum green area of 9 square meters (m2) per inhabitant, with 16 m2 being ideal for the best welfare of citizens, and most importantly, that it should be strategically distributed throughout the city and not only in some areas, especially in the periphery.
In terms of the population of Merida (more than a million people), this is expressed in 16 million m2 needed create conditions for the well-being of residents and comply with international environmental indicators. “I don’t know if Merida fits those parameters,” he added.
Follow us on Google News for the best information
FV