Urban economy analysis
Twelve years of business directory
Cancún's economy from 2015 to 2026 according to the business directory: employment grows on the periphery, stalls in the centre, becomes more tourist- and retail-oriented and concentrates in the hotel zone. What the directory does not see: the pandemic.
In one sentenceReads how the city's economic structure changed, knowing the directory misses short-term shocks like the pandemic.
Spanish original: Doce años de directorio
What do twelve years of businesses tell us?
Twelve editions of the business directory show where Cancún's employment moved and which sectors grew.
They also show what a directory cannot see.
Key findings
Employment grows on the periphery
Registered employment multiplied in the south-west (+317%), the Colosio corridor (+134%) and the west (+130%), while the founding centre lost 5%.
The pandemic that does not appear
For the directory, 2020 was the best year of the decade and 2021 fell only 1.4%: the directory does not record shocks.
Fewer, larger businesses
The hotel zone has 25% fewer establishments than in 2015 with the same employment.
Approach
Step 1
Bring twelve annual directory editions onto a 250 m grid, by sector and functional subzone.
Step 2
Measure where employment moved and which sectors grew between 2015 and 2026.
Step 3
Document what the series cannot show: the directory does not record shocks such as the pandemic.
How to read it
- Year-to-year changes mix real changes with registration updates.
- Employment is estimated from range midpoints and excludes informality.
- Measuring shocks requires formal employment records or surveys.
Data
Business directory 2015–2026 (INEGI DENUE)
Twelve annual editions for Benito Juárez.
What you just saw
A twelve-year series of the business directory by cell and sector.
What else this method can answer
- Where is employment growing?
- Which sectors gain or lose?
- Which tourist area is transforming?
In other places
Replicable with the historical editions of the directory.
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 societyWho cares for whom?