El Trabajo Social en el contexto metropolitano

This article introduces the relevance of theory and its applications to the understanding and the analysis of sociourban processes, the expression of the interrelation between the society and the metropolis. While metropolitan zones are erected as the hegemonic urban space, it is important that the university Social Work gets involved in various alternative discussions and formulations concerning the current reality. This essay also analyses the importance of the Metropolitan Zone of the Valley of Mexico (ZMVM), the second most populated megacity, which increasingly becomes a metropolis within the circuits of globalization. Thus, this paper propounds a theoretical discussion on the metropolitan reality as well as a review on the way necessities and social problems have been dealt with, setting aside the territorial perspective and privileging the sectorial visions. Finally, the necessity of a metropolitan project for the ZMVM is discussed, as a consequence of the lack of interinstitutional coordination and of the absence of a citizen culture and identity within the dimension of metropolitan existence. In order to consider the feasibility of a new paradigm, this paper covers three different thematic orientations on the metropolitan subject: a) vulnerability and security, b) development and sustainability, and c) governability and civil society.