Fragmented Cities, Santa Catarina, 2007, from the Suburbia Mexicana Project, by Alejandro Cartagena

A few days ago we posted about a project called American Palimpsests by contender Stacy Mehrfar, which documents the desolation of suburban and exurban America. South of the border, contender Alejandro Cartagena has been photographing the causes and effects of Mexico's own residential sprawl which, despite all odds, is booming in this down international economy.

As a result of government initiatives granting loans toward buying homes, more than 300,000 new houses have popped up in the areas surrounding Mexico's metropolitan Monterrey area. "Amazingly," writes Alejandro, "even in the financial and mortgage crisis being lived in most of the world, the commission just announced in June that they will position another 500,000 loans for housing in 2009."

Like many development projects, the repetitious rows of houses forsake both their natural surroundings and cultural context. Most of the houses are a kind of boxy, mass-produced approximation of mission-style architecture, a sad nod to an endangered cultural history and an eerie parallel to the pseudo-colonial McMansions that have overtaken American developments. For me, it is painful to watch these spiritless developments envelop the landscape. Alejandro, however, "does not overtly condemn these development projects." Instead he seeks to "openly engage a critically dense examination of the complicated balance existing between economically driven States and the yearning of a society for a fairer World in which to live."

The photographs evoke many conflicting thoughts and feelings about our quest throughout history to create residential utopias. Though Alejandro has tried to present an objective view of this changing landscape, the images seem to shout: be careful of what you wish for.

The entirety of Suburbia Mexicana; Fragmented Cities can be seen at Alejandro's website.