Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico expands to 84 municipalities with Morelos

The Ministry of Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development (SEDATU), together with Mexico City and the states of México, Hidalgo, and Morelos, published the Declaration of Modification of the Metropolitan Area of the Valley of Mexico in the Official Gazette of the Federation this August 25, 2026. The instrument, signed on August 3, 2026, incorporates the municipality of Huitzilac, in Morelos, for the first time and redefines the area as a total of 84 municipalities and territorial demarcations.

The declaration comes into effect the day after its publication and nullifies any previous declaration regarding the territorial delimitation or expansion of the area. The document was signed by Secretary Edna Elena Vega Rangel (SEDATU), the Head of Government of Mexico City Clara Marina Brugada Molina, the Governor of the State of Mexico Delfina Gómez Álvarez, the Governor of Hidalgo Julio Ramón Menchaca Salazar, and the Governor of Morelos Margarita González Saravia Calderón.

An area growing across four entities

The new delimitation responds to the growing functional, economic, social, and environmental interdependence between the entities and is based on the Master Plan of the Valley of Mexico study, convened by SEDATU on August 15, 2024. The area generates approximately 25% of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and concentrates more than 21.4% of the country’s productive establishments, according to INEGI data (2020).

The delimitation was defined and validated in the twelfth session of the Joint Technical Secretariat of the Metropolitan Development Council of the Valley of Mexico, held on February 26, 2025, and ratified in the First Ordinary Session 2026 of the Council on August 3, 2026.

The 84 municipalities of the area

The metropolitan area is composed of:

• 16 territorial demarcations of Mexico City (Álvaro Obregón, Azcapotzalco, Benito Juárez, Coyoacán, Cuajimalpa de Morelos, Cuauhtémoc, Gustavo A. Madero, Iztacalco, Iztapalapa, La Magdalena Contreras, Miguel Hidalgo, Milpa Alta, Tláhuac, Tlalpan, Venustiano Carranza, and Xochimilco).
• 59 municipalities of the State of Mexico, including Ecatepec de Morelos, Nezahualcóyotl, Tlalnepantla de Baz, Naucalpan de Juárez, Texcoco, Chalco, and Zumpango.
• 8 municipalities of the State of Hidalgo: Atitalaquia, Atotonilco de Tula, Tepeji del Río de Ocampo, Tizayuca, Tlaxcoapan, Tolcayuca, Tula de Allende, and Villa de Tezontepec.
• 1 municipality of the State of Morelos: Huitzilac.

Governance and metropolitan planning

The declaration establishes that the territorial scope of the zone will constitute the reference for the design and implementation of metropolitan instruments, plans, and programs, as well as for the concurrence of resources, technical capacities, and citizen participation. The instrument does not imply the expansion, modification, or substitution of the constitutional competencies of the federative entities or the Federal Government.

In parallel, the First Modifying Agreement to the Coordination Agreement for the installation of the Metropolitan Development Council of the Valley of Mexico was published, which incorporates Morelos as a full member of the Council and its Joint Presidency, and updates the metropolitan commissions for human settlements, risks, economic development, mobility, health, water, and environment.

Validity and scope

The declaration will enter into force the day following its publication in the Official Gazette of the Federation and must be disseminated in the gazettes or official newspapers of the participating entities. With this, the Metropolitan Zone of the Valley of Mexico is consolidated as the largest territorial unit for planning and intergovernmental coordination in the country, with direct implications for the allocation of budgetary resources, mobility, water, the environment, and urban development for more than 20 million inhabitants.

Source: Official Gazette of the Federation, August 25, 2026, First Section (Executive Branch), pp. 69-74 (Declaration of Modification of the Metropolitan Zone of the Valley of Mexico).