Mixco is the second most populous municipality in the country, after the capital, with an estimate of 538 thousand 189 inhabitants, who are distributed in a territory of 99 square kilometers. It is divided into 11 zones, composed of 648 populated places, according to the Territorial Development Plan project with 2032 territorial approach.
Population growth has been accelerated. As a reference, the 1950 census accounted for 11,784 inhabitants, with a majority of rural population. In 2002, 403 thousand 689 residents were documented, mostly resident in urban areas, in accordance with the Southern Subregion Document, of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies (CEUR) of the University of San Carlos.
Thus, the income from the authorization of construction licenses of the Municipality of Mixco went from Q17.2 million to Q56.7 million during the period in mention.
In addition, the income collected with the Single Property Tax (IUSI) went from Q139.9 million to Q156.6 million, according to the Portal of Local Governments of the Ministry of Finance.
As an example of this growth, two vertical housing projects that are currently running in San Cristóbal City, zone 8 of that municipality, can be mentioned with an average cost of Q520 thousand per apartment – two rooms, a bathroom and a parking lot. For the authorization of one of the projects, the Neto Bran administration asked the developer to pave an old auxiliary path, which was dirt and impassable in the rainy season. Both are part of the 38 multifamily housing construction licenses authorized by the Mixco commune in the last four years. 50% of these procedures occurred in 2021, according to data from the Guatemalan Chamber of Construction (CGC).
In other areas of Mixco – 4, for example – an apartment with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and two parking lots can cost between Q1 70 thousand and Q1 million 543 thousand; The variation is due to facilities and design. In zone 2, another example, there are options that start in Q405 thousand, with two bedrooms, a bathroom and a parking lot, and can reach Q820 thousand, with three bedrooms.
A plan that does not start
An CEUR investigation measured the urban expansion of Mixco between 1995 and 2015, through the construction licenses issued. Thus, single -family homes were 16 thousand 175; They were followed by serial homes (11 thousand 404) and multifamily (1,348).
For its part, the Territorial Development Plan identified that the accelerated urban growth has been observed from the 1976 earthquake. Today, the most populated points are the miracle, zone 6, the center of Mixco and Ciudad San Cristóbal.
Regarding water supply, the study by Bayron González, CEUR research engineer, indicates that in Mixco 97% of the sources is of underground origin. It is managed by private companies and only 3% supplies surface water.
Councilor Cindy Rodríguez, chosen by the Semilla Party, states that the Municipality of Mixco does not have approved the Territorial Planning Plan. This has had a long process, initiated in 2024, and it is expected that it enters into force at the end of this year. “About 12 regulations must still be reforming and modified, so that everything goes in accordance, especially the private construction regulations, since there the construction license applications enter there. We expect progress, we have been in late for about 25 years, ”he said.
Mynor Espinoza, spokesman for the Mixqueña commune, said that, for the moment, the Construction and Urban Planning Regulation is used, since the Territorial Planning Plan is in legal review.
For his part, Luis Olayo, CEUR investigating architect and author of the study “Mixco, an urban analysis of the construction of private housing in the 21st century”, analyzed the impact that this municipality does not have implemented a territorial planning plan and listed derived failures.
The neighbors are impacted with arrears, shortage of public infrastructure projects, absence of mobility plan with transport system, lack of public spaces, negligence in the care of forests (not to mention immoderate logging, as happens on the Alux hill, one of the main groundwater suppliers of the municipality) and urban progress in risk areas.
Irregular topography
As for topography, Mixco is characterized by being irregular. Only 47.3% of the territory is suitable for construction; The remaining has pending more than 32%, and this restricts the occupation for housing purposes. 50 populated centers are identified in these earrings, with strong degree of vulnerability and considered high -risk areas.
“Urban growth in recent years has had negative effects derived from the absence of urban planning and the non -existent regulation of land use,” Olayo said in his document.
In contrast, Héctor Monzón Desang, Doctor of Industrial Engineering, said that Mixco is part of a secondary geological failure, one of which is going through San Cristóbal City. However, in some cases, ordering plans can be simplistic. “There are areas whose slope, if the correct geophysical evaluations are made and modern structural calculation tools are applied, they can be safe. There are solutions, if they are handled in the proper way, ”he said.
Great Challenge: Traffic
In relation to traffic, the road system has been harmed by the excessive growth of the vehicle park, the poor collective transport system and the low urban planning, which causes mobility difficulties and that the roads do not adequately satisfy the disgust of cars. Consequently, traffic jams are increased, accidents occur and the environment is degraded.
A survey conducted by the Department of Urban Mobility of the Mixqueña commune, in 2016, identified 38 critical points of road conflict. One of the causes is that the routes do not have the capacity to contain the amount of circulating vehicles, due to their limited geometry, poor condition of the rolling folder or lack of support infrastructure.
At that time, it was identified that approximately 486 thousand vehicles enter in Mixco and 465 thousand graduate. The neuralgic and greater congestion point was the exit of the San Cristóbal Boulevard to zone 11 capital.
Water supply
The Espinoza spokesman indicated that the areas with the highest vertical growth of his municipality in recent years have been 1, the 2 and 4th. “It is part of social development,” he said.
In the relationship between the increase in the urban population and the shortage of piped water, Espinoza said that several projects have been raised to solve it; One of them is the drilling of more mechanical wells, and another consists in the use of rainwater.