As their community grew, they were able to get paved roads only by cutting deals with municipal and federal politicians. María Luisa Vélez, who helped clear land for the El Pedregal community, recalled on Sunday at a community meeting in Tlalpizatli the difficulties they faced clearing volcanic rock and nopal cactus to build shelter and roads – and then living there without paved roads, electricity or running water. And third, those same neighbours control the only water source, 200 metres away, and allow Tizilingo residents access three times a week, for two hours and a maximum of four jugs per family. Second, they have to siphon electricity from a neighbouring community to power their streetlights. First, because they’re on a hill, and because they built the rough roads themselves, rubbish and fire trucks can’t gain access. In Tizilingo, for example, another Xochimilco slum up the hill from Tlalzipatli, 35 families work hard to create a workable living environment despite three major obstacles. The government doesn’t recognise these communities (they’re considered squatters), meaning they also lack government services. Slums have filled a housing vacuum in Mexico City created by an absence of urban planning or affordable housing, and by extreme, generational poverty and rampant inequality.
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