Surface growth of Nogales

At the time of the birth of Nogales, it's spontaneous growth inspired that the State Government, on July 9, 1884, through Law No 29 signed by Governor Torres, found the Municipality and population of Nogales

You can see the text of the decree by clicking here

The following month, on the 28th, the owners of Los Nogales signed a contract through which they ceded a rectangle measuring 1,200 varas on each side for the establishment of the towhsite.

If you want, you can read the text of the Contract by clicking here.

This contract stipulated that, because the owners had already sold a small amount of lots within this square to the Sonora Railroad, this surface would be replaced for the future townsite in one of the sides of the square. And so it happened when, at the time of the measuring of the land of the townsite, the lost area was replaced with a strip located to the South, which extended it's Southern boundary to 1,188.7 m from the border (that is, to the Northern sidewalk of Callejon Ramos). On July 13, 1889, Nogales got the category of Villa, and on January 1, 1920 it was declared a city.

You can read the text of the Decree here.

In the following nap we see the surface growth that Nogales has had through it's history. In black, the original Township, and in successive lighter tonalities the neighborhoods that were founded through time.

The city has grown as follows:

By 1888, the then town of Nogales had a surface of 15 Hectares, while in 1924 we had grown to 215 Hectares. In 1960 Nogales occupied a surface of 530 Hectares, and by 1980 there were around 1325 Hectares. By 1999 the urban area occupied some 2,000 Hectares, while by the year 2000 the city reached an area of 3,028 Hectares. According to a recent study, by 2002 the city occupied a surface of 5,550 Hectares, with an urban proyected area by 2012 of 6,475 Hectares (Colonia Development and Land Use Change in Nogales, by Laura Norman)

On the other side, according to the INEGI censuses, by 1960 there was a population of 37,657 nogalenses living in an extension of 530 Hectares, which gives us a density of 71 persons/Ha; by 1980 the population was 65,603 nogalenses living in 1,325 Has, which gives us a density of 49 hab/Ha; by 1990 there were 105,873 nogalenses living in 2,000 Has, with a density of 53 Hab/Ha; and during the year 2000 there were 159,103 nogalenses living in 3,028 Has, or a density of 52 nogalenses by Hectarea.

You can play with the data in the following, interactive Graph. I invite you to do so, in order that you have a better understanding of what these numbers tell us.

Again, it is necessary to see with skeptical eyes the statistics deducted from the censuses. For instance, the conclusion that there was more hacination in 1960 that today.

As we see in the adjoining map, the growth of Nogales has been anarchic, determined by a necessity of a place to live in for the immigrants, as well as by the topography; first extending along the cañadas, and climbing the hills when there is no more level ground. Today, there are inhabited areas reaching 1,350 meters above sea level (masl) in some neighborhoods, in spite that the Development Plan of SEDUE, in 1987 established the maximum height of 1,300 masl "to be able to guaranted the offer of services"

According to the Programa Municipal de Desarrollo Urbano de Nogales (Municipal Program of Urban Development for Nogales) of 1994, only a little over half (51.14%) of the populated area had been regularized by then, while the rest had problems to be regularized. That same study found that in Nogales there were deficits of 60% in sewer coverage, 70% of rain sewers, 40% in public illumination, 10% in electric energy, and 65% in pavement.

According to the 1990 Census, there were 22,498 home buildings, while the 2000 Census gave us 38,000 home buildings.

Home Building demand, according to the 1994 Plan was then near 30,000 home buildings, which doesn´t agree with the data shown in the above graph.