Urban structure analysis
Centres and corridors
Where Cancún's centres and corridors statistically are, how they changed between 2015 and 2026 and whether they match those proposed by current zoning.
In one sentenceCompares real centres with those proposed by the plan, to decide where to recognise or build them.
Spanish original: Centralidades y corredores
Where are Cancún's centres?
Centres are not decreed: they are recognised where they already exist and built where they are wanted.
This atlas identifies them statistically from employment, follows their evolution and contrasts them with the plan's zoning.
Key findings
One centre and seven subcentres
Eight centres hold 32% of employment; the traditional centre concentrates 51,000 jobs, 63% of employment in centres.
Peripheral centres grow
The centre grew until 2020 and fell back in 2026; the airport (×2.4) and the wholesale market (×3.3) are the fastest-growing centres.
Zoning and reality
The plan recognises the centre (72% under centrality keys); 13% of its primary corridor coincides with identified centres, and 83 of 233 km of active corridors are zoned as corridors.
Approach
Step 1
Identify centres as clusters of 250 m cells with significantly high employment (Gi* ≥ 3.29, 500 m band) in 2015, 2020 and 2026.
Step 2
Describe each centre by employment, retail, facilities, residents, built volume and sector diversity.
Step 3
Measure corridors by establishment density along avenue segments and contrast centres and corridors with the plan's centrality keys.
How to read it
- The directory records formal establishments; employment is estimated from range midpoints.
- Centres depend on the Gi* band and threshold; the choice is documented.
- A centrality key outside a real centre may be a policy bet, not an error.
Data
Business directory 2015–2026
Establishments, sector and employment.
2020 Census
Population by block.
Buildings
325,000 footprints with area and estimated height.
Current zoning
Secondary zoning key by parcel.
OpenStreetMap
Trunk to tertiary roads.
What you just saw
Spatial statistics of employment (Getis-Ord Gi*) and establishment density by segment.
What else this method can answer
- Which zoned corridors have no activity?
- Where is a new centre emerging?
- How has the structure changed since 2015?
In other places
Needs an employment directory and zoning.
Line of work
D · Territorial diagnosis and monitoring →Do you have a similar question in your city?
Describe the problem
Next in Urban structure and societyTwelve years of business directory