The displacement of the cities, a Hispano-American tradition?: The Parangaricutiro case (Mexico, 1944)

Abstract

In 1943, the eruption of the Paricutín volcano led to the abandonment of San Juan Parangaricutiro (Michoacán, Mexico) and to the foundation of a new city, which followed the urbanistic rules inherited from the colonial period. This article aims at replacing this case study within the most general context of the tens of displacement that characterize the Hispano-American urban system’s unsteadiness since the beginning of the conquest until the middle of the XX century. The comparison between the colonial files and those of Manuel Ávila Camacho’s Presidence allows showing the continuity of the institutional mechanisms and the processes set to ensure the displacement of a city and its inhabitants in a crisis situation.