Macroeconomic changes of the last decades have had a profound impact not only on society but also on the spatial reorganization of the territory. The generalized trend witnessed has been that of a strong demographic and economic growth of the urban centers, with the consequent increase in market prices for real estate units and for building land (where still available) within large metropolitan areas. Large masses of the poorest groups of the population were thus pushed outside the urban core, towards the neighboring areas, increasingly distant from the cities, where distance has not only a geographical significance, but almost always corresponds with a social and economic distance, if placed in relation to city centers now inhabited by the wealthiest segments of the population. Over time, these peri-urban areas have taken on the appearance of huge endless suburbs, a phenomenon known as "urban sprawl" in the Anglo-Saxon world (the so-called “mancha urbana” in Spanish). This project aims to represent the reality described above, focusing on the largest metropolises of the Latin American world, one of the continents with the strongest population growth rate and therefore more subject to phenomena of spatial reorganization such as those of the “mancha urbana”. The pivotal point on which this visual study wants to focus is the impact that the phenomenon of the mancha urbana has on the natural territory, and consequently the problems linked to the creation of inclusive urban contexts, protecting the environment and creating the possibilities for a fair future for different segments of the population. In a broader sense, this project is an invitation to reflect on our future as a species through the observation of the natural territory and how it is transformed by the human presence. We have a duty to plan our development as a human species, and the structures that allow us to thrive, like the urban spaces, considering the fact that the natural environment that hosts us will not be able to withstand uncontrolled development for a long time to come, and for this reason we must minimise the impact that our urban centers have on the environment itself. The project is ongoing, and currently includes three chapters on some of the largest metropolises in the Latin world: La Paz, Bogotà and Mexico City. A virtual interdisciplinary exhibition is on consruction and you can visit it here: https://oncyber.io/lamanchaurbana