Guardian Cities: 6,000 complaints … then the quake: the scandal behind Mexico City’s 225 dead

I have an investigative piece up on Guardian Cities today with David Adler. We reported on why new and recently remodeled buildings in Mexico City came down in the quake. What we found is that the city government turns a blind eye to thousands of citizen complaints about building code violations. Meanwhile, the real estate market is booming, and condominium developers keep building costs low, and profits high.

“Many of the buildings that collapsed in the earthquake that killed 225 people in Mexico City last month were the subject of citizen complaints about safety, a Guardian Cities investigation can reveal.

Since 2012, the residents of Mexico City have lodged nearly 6,000 complaints about construction project violations, with no public record of how many were followed up.

Many of the buildings in question subsequently collapsed in the 19 September earthquake, which was notable for the high number of new or recently remodelled buildings that suffered surprising damage.”

The complete article is on the Guardian Cities.