Urbanizing commons lands: Ambiguous tenure regimes and the challenges of land regularization in Guadalajara Metropolitan Region, Mexico

This paper examines why the informal subdivision and sale of socially owned lands remains the dominant means of accessing land and shelter in Mexico, despite decades of federal land regularization policies. Focusing on the Guadalajara Metropolitan Region, Mexico’s third-largest urban agglomeration, we research this in the context of rapid housing development on socially owned lands, otherwise known as ejidos and comunidades . Drawing on qualitative research and policy analysis, we analyze three successive federal programs - PROCEDE, FANAR, and RRAJA - and show that, despite improving cartographic demarcation and formal registration, they have not adequately addressed the continuous unplanned and informal urbanization of ejidos and comunidades . We attribute this to three main factors. First, there is an institutional mismatch between land administration at the federal scale and planning at the metropolitan scale. Second, land regularization policies tend to prioritize the rural context, creating an agrarian bias. Third, ejidos and comunidades are often overlooked despite their vital role in urbanizing metropolitan peripheries. We conclude by highlighting the need for faster, context-specific regularization procedures for urbanizing socially owned lands and improved intergovernmental coordination to ensure equitable and timely land governance. • Federal–metropolitan misalignment shapes land-use in Guadalajara’s peripheral commons. • Rural-focused land use policies fail to address rapidly urbanizing common lands. • Urban growth outpaced the capacity of prior and current land regularization programs. • Guadalajara’s planning institute operates in a fragmented institutional landscape. • Mapping and demarcation improve tenure clarity but fall short in urbanized contexts.