The Relationship Between Urbanization Processes, the Natural Environment and Vulnerability in Acapulco and Cancún

Abstract

Mexico’s coastal tourist destinations are located in zones that are threatened by natural phenomena. This is complicated by urbanization processes that interfere with the water cycle, exacerbating the population’s vulnerability by blocking and diverting rivers and eliminating plant cover and associated biomes.
These processes were analyzed with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and hydrological models of six areas undergoing the process of urbanization, which allows us to predict the zones of greatest risk. Here, it is necessary to redesign environmental protection areas in the periphery and tourism budgets around mitigation services and the regulation of natural phenomena.