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Water utility planning efforts are becoming increasingly difficult throughout the world. Located in a semi-arid region, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico is a fast growing municipality that faces both physical infrastructure and water supply constraints. This paper examines monthly water consumption in Ciudad Juárez utilizing a linear transfer function procedure (LTF). Analysis is carried out for per customer usage and for the total number of municipal water system accounts. Models estimated for both series are subjected to a series of simulation benchmark tests. Findings suggest that water consumption in Ciudad Juárez reacts quickly to changes in economic and weather conditions. Out-of-sample simulation results are mixed. Per customer usage forecasts do not fare as well those for total customers relative to random walk benchmarks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 2016 World Economic Forum, Ciudad Juarez stood out as one of the Latin American cities that achieved a remarkable reduction of drug trafficking-related crimes and violence, leaving thus behind the stigma of being the most dangerous city in the world. Taking this into consideration, the question could be raised: how did such change emerge? During the war on drugs (2006-2012), former President Felipe Calderon deployed the army in critical areas besieged by drug cartels. However, and following a massacre in Juarez –a border city shaken by drug trafficking-violence–, the Federal Government took a new turn in its militarized approach. As a result, the military operations were accompanied by an unprecedented socio-economic aid program: Todos Somos Juarez aimed at building resilient communities to the penetration of organized crime. Based on the concept of «competition in state-making», this paper first analyzes the design and implementation of the above-mentioned initiative; then, it performs an assessment of the results obtained after his execution; and finally, it identifies some key lessons that can be drawn from the Mexican experience. The amin conclusion of the article is that Todos Somos Juarez was based on three strategic pillars: holistic approach, active citizen participation and coordination between the three levels of Government (federal, state and municipal). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of IBEROAMERICANA. América Latina - España - Portugal is the property of Vervuert Verlag and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Ciudad Juárez (Chihuahua, Mexico) has recently been experiencing the effects of a worldwide economic recession and a wave of drug-related violence, making it a difficult environment in which to raise children. This paper focuses on the work of a local community group, Gente a favor de gente, related to a child development intervention in poor colonias (neighborhoods) in the city. Promotoras (community health workers) visited parents with children 0 to 3 years old and administered a pre-test of the child's developmental age. Parents were then given an intervention that targeted their child's developmental needs. After the intervention, the child was given a post-test to measure his/her developmental age to determine its usefulness. This field report explores the success of the intervention in improving children's development. The analysis and discussion focus on how community groups can benefit underprivileged communities through interventions for children, with university support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to draw on terror management theory (TMT) to explore the impact of pervasive mortality cues on consumer behaviour as a result of residing in a community ravaged by escalating violence. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative analysis of 27 in-depth interviews of consumers living in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico during the height of the Mexican drug war provides insight into their coping strategies and consumption. Findings: Living under such conditions results in unrelenting mortality salience (MS), as well as the adoption of consumption-related coping strategies that can conflict with cultural worldviews and threaten self-esteem. The normalization of coping strategies severely strains worldviews. Consumers manage their ensuing intrapersonal evaluative tension by developing consumption safe havens and through identity fragmentation. Moreover, permanent proximal defences result from persistent MS. Research limitations/implications: Although cross-sectional and idiosyncratic to the Mexican culture, the findings broaden TMT by suggesting that consumers facing relentless MS experience altered brand meanings and social interactions, as they were reluctant to acquire prestige brands, while indicating an increase in the value placed on relationships over possessions. Practical implications: Marketers can help consumers alleviate their death-related anxiety by eliminating telemarketing campaigns, promoting online shopping, using unique customer identification numbers and investing in visible security measures such as gates, security cameras, and guards. Originality/value: This exploratory study provides a preliminary theoretical framework for consumers' reactions to persistent MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of the valuation of housing attributes have been conducted for numerous metropolitan markets. Empirical analyses of this nature for cities in Latin America and Mexico are less common. This study utilizes data for 175 new houses in Ciudad Juarez, a major metropolitan economy in northern Mexico, to estimate a hedonic pricing model. All units in the sample were completed and sold between November 2006 and April 2007. For each house, a total of 14 characteristics relating to structure and location are employed as explanatory variables. Estimation results indicate that the structural characteristics play bigger roles than the neighborhood amenities. Surprisingly, neighborhood parks are found to lower housing values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decades of research in countries of the Global North have revealed distinct environmental injustices whereby industrial hazards tend to be located in poor and minority neighborhoods; few studies have investigated similar relationships between humans and hazards in the Global South. This study uses conventional quantitative environmental justice methodology to investigate spatial relationships between residential socio-demographics and maquiladoras (i.e., final assembly plants) in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. When predicting maquiladora density using percent children and social class in a spatial error regression model, we find that percent children was a positive and significant predictor, while social class was not significant. Adding formal residential development to the model, social class becomes a negative and significant predictor. Formal residential development and percent children are also positive and significant. As is the case in the Global North, relationships between neighborhood characteristics and transnationally operated maquiladoras along the northern border of Mexico are linked to urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]