Urban Structural and Infrastructural Inequalities Shape Fine‐Scale Carbon Footprints of Diet, Housing, and Transportation

Evidence from the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City

Bibliographic Data

ID24147804
AuthorsRogelio O Corona-Núñez (0000-0002-1966-6377), R Isela Jasso-Flores (0000-0002-1341-3109), Francisco E Ramas Arauz (0000-0001-7153-2467), Adriana Corona (0000-0003-0807-1615), Salomón González Arellano (0000-0002-4890-2199), Irmene Ortíz (0000-0002-9408-5628)
Year2026
Pages107933
Publication date2026-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSustainable Cities and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2210-6707 • E-ISSN: 2210-6715
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.scs.2026.107933
OpenAlexW7213937107
LanguageEN
References cited80

By 2050, over 70% of the global population will live in urban areas, mostly in the Global South. Cities account for 70–80% of global CO 2 emissions, largely from food systems, housing, and transportation. Using 992 household surveys and high‐resolution (100-m) machine learning models, we estimated spatially disaggregated per capita carbon footprints for diet, housing, and transportation across the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City (MAMC). This fine-spatial resolution uncovers emission hotspots obscured by citywide aggregates. By focusing on consumer-based spatial drivers, this study provides actionable insights for equity‐oriented climate governance. Our findings show that footprints comparable to Global North cities are driven by structural urban disparities, such as housing morphology and infrastructure access, rather than individual choices. Modelled mean annual footprints reached 10.1±1.2 tCO 2 eq with peripheral municipalities exceeding 15.0 tCO 2 eq. Dietary emissions dominated (>60%), housing contributed 10–20% but reached >40% in northern clusters, and transportation footprints were highest in sprawling, poorly connected peripheries. Emissions scaled with affluence and built-up area, whereas structural deprivation and limited access characterized low-emission peripheral zones trapped in a double burden. These findings reveal structural inequalities embedded in food, housing and mobility, deepening climate injustices and intersectional vulnerabilities across marginalized communities. Climate mitigation in Latin American must move beyond uniform mandates toward spatially targeted urban governance capable of resolving deep-seated intra-urban carbon disparities though integrated, spatially adaptive mitigation strategies. Land‐use densification, electrified transit expansion, and improved housing standards in peripheral zones offer pathways to reduce emissions while advancing urban climate justice and reducing inequality.

Carbon fibers · Central city · City region · Inequality · Metropolitan area · Mexico city · Environmental Impact and Sustainability · Urban Heat Island Mitigation · Urban Transport and Accessibility