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I have been to some cities in Mexico and some places like Queretaro City and Monterrey looked very developed. Very clean and organized. It seemed like people lived affluent lives there.
Also I have not been to these cities, but I have seen pictures of cities such as Medellin, Bogota, cities in Panama and Chile and they seem a lot like a city in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany. Judging by the pictures and their per capitas and HDIs, they seemed a lot more like a city in New Zealand or Australia than in Latin America since there is a more middle class and more affluent people. Also, I feel like the culture is changing. I don't know if it's always been like that but I noticed especially the Latinos who live in Major cities seem sort of more liberal, less religious, more materialistic, I've met people and seen blogs and youtube channels of Latin Americans and it seems like they are more americanized, I don't know how to say it. I don't like that since it's it shows they aren't so original, since I feel they just steel jokes from americans and throw in random English words. Whenever they make jokes or something, they could've made something funnier but they just get it from USA...but oh well that's the way it goes...My question is do you think that
Major cities in Latin America are now like in 1st World Developed Countries?
I have been to some cities in Mexico and some places like Queretaro City and Monterrey looked very developed. Very clean and organized. It seemed like people lived affluent lives there.
Also I have not been to these cities, but I have seen pictures of cities such as Medellin, Bogota, cities in Panama and Chile and they seem a lot like a city in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany. Judging by the pictures and their per capitas and HDIs, they seemed a lot more like a city in New Zealand or Australia than in Latin America since there is a more middle class and more affluent people. Also, I feel like the culture is changing. I don't know if it's always been like that but I noticed especially the Latinos who live in Major cities seem sort of more liberal, less religious, more materialistic, I've met people and seen blogs and youtube channels of Latin Americans and it seems like they are more americanized, I don't know how to say it. I don't like that since it's it shows they aren't so original, since I feel they just steel jokes from americans and throw in random English words. Whenever they make jokes or something, they could've made something funnier but they just get it from USA...but oh well that's the way it goes...My question is do you think that
Major cities in Latin America are now like in 1st World Developed Countries?
I think that is a good question. And an interesting one
I've been fortunate to have traveled extensively and I have often wondered about these things.
First of all, if we ONLY judge capitals and nothing else, then I can't say ANY of cities are 1st world in latam.
Colombia has a low GDP per capita, in fact it's less than half than the regional leader (Chile). Therefore I can't say ANY colombian city is 1st world:ish. Driving from the airport to Bogota center you see mostly ran down buildings still.
Panama has still poverty to combat. please watch this about panama
Argentina and Uruguay need to get their city together and modernize or at least maintain it more properly.
In BsAs the villas have exploded in the last few years and that is something you don't see in 1st world countries.
Mexico has internal issues to deal with (something I saw in DC, Tijuana&Juarez) and also their people must develop themselves along with the country for a sustainable growth. Corruption and street violence shows clearly on the streets and that needs attention asap.
Slums in Mexico city:
Chile has I suppose the most 1st world country with low corruption, low violence and with a modern and good transportation system and great roads. People are law abiding and highly westernized. There are no slums like in Buenos Aires but some poorer areas needs better public space. I think Santiago, in fact the whole country should be declared a first world within this decade.
Almost all the poverty in Latin America comes from the non-urban areas, which leads the poorest to move to the cities and hope for a better life. On a GDP per capita contribution and cost of living scale most of the major cities would be 1st world or pretty close to it. Where they are not often the cause is the sheer number of people either living on the margins or not even in the formal economy.
Our cities in Latin America have neighborhoods that are very developed, and can be compared to 1st world neighborhoods, BUT, in contrast, all of our cities still have very poor neighborhoods, that are very undeveloped, in a degree that you don't see in any neighborhood of 1st world cities.
So, I'm realist.
Our cities have improved a lot, but can't be compared to 1st world cities yet.
Of course most of Latin America's cities are in much better shape than the larger cities of India or Indonesia, for example, but are far away from being equal to the "1st world" cities.
Our cities in Latin America have neighborhoods that are very developed, and can be compared to 1st world neighborhoods, BUT, in contrast, all of our cities still have very poor neighborhoods, that are very undeveloped, in a degree that you don't see in any neighborhood of 1st world cities.
So, I'm realist.
Our cities have improved a lot, but can't be compared to 1st world cities yet.
Of course most of Latin America's cities are in much better shape than the larger cities of India or Indonesia, for example, but are far away from being equal to the "1st world" cities.
There are districts in my city that are definitely "First World" with the advantage of third world districts nearby to get our drivers,maids,cooks, gardeners, etc from. I think it is much the same around the world as even middle class people need available domestic help that live nearby.
Are the poorest parts of the cities that much worse than the poorest parts of the Bronx? How about the South Side of Chicago with its current gang wars? Every major city has pockets of bad poverty too. The main difference in Latin America is the presence of non-titled shanty towns without legal status. They exist and can bring down per capita GDP numbers, but then again sometimes they are not accounted for in official numbers. They could be seen as a reason the cities are not 1st world if someone wanted to, but they could also be seen as an outlier for the cities since they usually are on fringe land which would have low productive use otherwise. I'd just look at them as a distraction from seeing how close the cities are to 1st world. When one thinks of major world cities they don't first think about crime infested public housing projects as seen in places like NYC, Paris or San Francisco. So why do we do this with Latin American cities?
are the poorest parts of the cities that much worse than the poorest parts of the bronx? How about the south side of chicago with its current gang wars? Every major city has pockets of bad poverty too. The main difference in latin america is the presence of non-titled shanty towns without legal status. They exist and can bring down per capita gdp numbers, but then again sometimes they are not accounted for in official numbers. They could be seen as a reason the cities are not 1st world if someone wanted to, but they could also be seen as an outlier for the cities since they usually are on fringe land which would have low productive use otherwise. I'd just look at them as a distraction from seeing how close the cities are to 1st world. When one thinks of major world cities they don't first think about crime infested public housing projects as seen in places like nyc, paris or san francisco. So why do we do this with latin american cities?
lol
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