The City That Doesn't Work

In Mexico City, some days you can't drive; on others, the water is cut off. The first is an arguably misguided attempt to attack the smog problem head-on, the second is the result of generations of failed governance. Forty percent of the city's drinking water is wasted because of bad pipes! The water problems are nothing new, but no one has ever dealt with them effectively. It's not a coincidence that democracy has existed in Mexico City for only slightly more than a decade.