Urban Information Flows and Media Literacy: a Constructal and ESG-Based Proposal for MIL Cities Flujos urbanos de información y alfabetización mediática: una propuesta constructal y de ESG para Ciudades MIL
Academic Article in Scopus
Purpose. To propose a systemic analytical model for examining urban-territorial flows of digital access, use, and appropriation in Mexico, articulating Constructal Law and media ecology as frameworks for interpreting territorial inequalities and conditions of media and information literacy (MIL). Methodology. This article presents an exploratory and illustrative application based on secondary data aggregated by the State from the National Survey on the Availability and Use of Information Technologies in Households 2024. The ¿city¿ is used as an analytical category rather than as a municipal delimitation, and the 13-indicator MIL Cities framework is taken as a conceptual reference, specifically focusing on the ninth indicator. Empirically, the analysis focuses on comparable variables of digital access, use, and appropriation. Based on the articulation of Constructal Law, media ecology, MIL, and Environmental, Social, and Governance-based frameworks, a flow-based reading is operationalized using the dimensions of access permeability, density of significant use, friction or resistance, and territorial centrality. Results and conclusions. The implementation allows the identification of descriptive regularities related to exclusion, access gaps, and territorial differences in connectivity and digital use. Likewise, the ESG approach provides interpretive criteria for assessing social and governance implications that can be aligned with Sustainable Development Goals 4, 10, 11, 16, and 17. Original contribution. The concept of the ¿constructal MIL city¿ is proposed as a conceptual¿ methodological tool to support territorial readings, public policy discussion, and media education strategies aimed at reducing resistance and strengthening mediating nodes in more democratic urban-territorial environments.
