Graveyards in Mexico City Metropolitan Area

This project maps and characterises cemeteries across the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (ZMVM) — one of the largest urban agglomerations in the world. Using Google Earth Engine and OpenStreetMap data, we build a complete spatial database of cemetery polygons to support environmental, social, and urban analyses.

Why cemeteries? These spaces are widely overlooked, yet they hold real ecological, cultural, and economic potential:

• Urban greenery & biodiversity — Many cemeteries host mature trees, shrubs, and open land that provide habitat for birds, insects, and urban wildlife. Reforesting and conserving these areas can increase green cover and create wildlife corridors across the city.
• Air quality & urban cooling — Cemetery vegetation absorbs CO², filters particulate pollution, and reduces the urban heat island effect through shade and evapotranspiration — especially valuable in dense districts like Iztapalapa or Ecatepec.
• Groundwater recharge & water stress — The ZMVM faces one of the most severe water stress crises in Latin America, drawing down deep aquifers far faster than they can naturally recover. Cemetery soils — typically unsealed, vegetated, and free of impermeable surfaces — allow rainwater to infiltrate and percolate into the subsoil, making them valuable and often overlooked sites for natural groundwater recharge. Mapping and preserving these areas contributes directly to the city’s long-term water resilience.
• Community public spaces — With better access, lighting, and green infrastructure, cemeteries can become valued neighbourhood parks and gathering spaces for surrounding residents.
• Tourism & cultural revenue — During Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead), graveyards such as Panteón Civil de Dolores and Mixquic attract thousands of visitors. Improved facilities and programming could significantly boost local economic activity across the metropolitan area.
• Urban livability — A greener, better-maintained cemetery network improves wellbeing for residents in some of the city’s most densely built neighbourhoods.

The analysis begins in Google Earth Engine to collect, process, and map cemetery polygons and environmental indicators. Subsequent spatial, ecological, and urban analyses are developed in Python using GeoPandas, contextily, and other geospatial tools.