Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl
Encyclopedia
Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, or more commonly Ciudad Neza, is a city and municipality
of Mexico State adjacent to the northeast corner of Mexico
's Federal District: it is thus part of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area
. It was named after Nezahualcoyotl
, the Acolhua
poet and king of nearby Texcoco, and was built on the drained bed of Lake Texcoco
. The name Nezahualcóyotl comes from Nahuatl
, meaning "fasting
coyote
."
Until the 20th century, the land on which Ciudad Neza sits was under Lake Texcoco
and uninhabited. Successful draining of the lake in the early 20th century created new land, which the government eventually sold into private hands. However, public services such as adequate potable water, electricity and sewerage were lacking until after the area was made an independent municipality in 1963. Today Ciudad Neza is a sprawling city of over one million entirely with modern buildings. Most of its population is poor, and have migrated from other parts of Mexico. It also has a very high crime rate, in part due to “cholo
s” or gangs formed since the 1990s based on gang models in the United States, especially Los Angeles. Since the 2000s, a significant number of natives of this city have immigrated to the United States, mostly settling in New York. This has led to a new Mexican subculture in the area.
The city and municipality is named after the Aztec King Nezahualcóyotl
. The entity has an Aztec
glyph
as well as a coat of arms. The glyph depicts the head of a coyote, tongue outside the mouth with a collar or necklace as a symbol of royalty. It was one of the ways of depicting the Aztec king. The current coat of arms, which includes the glyph, was authorized by the municipality in the 1990s.
Nezahuacoyotl, for whom the city and municipality were named, was the lord of Texcoco, one of the allies of the Aztec Triple Alliance
. Texcoco dominated the area in which the modern municipality stands; however the land on which Ciudad Neza stands was under Lake Texcoco until the 20th century. Drainage of the interconnected lakes of the Valley of Mexico began in the early colonial period. The first major drainage project was begun in 1590, with the aim of eliminating the chronic flooding that plagued Mexico City. By the time of the Mexican War of Independence
, flooding was still a problem in the Mexico City area, and at that time a project was begun to drain Lake Texcoco directly. The Lake Texcoco area was declared federal property in 1912, after which efforts to completely drain the lake commenced which continued until the 1930s. Starting in 1917 under Venustiano Carranza
, efforts to determine legal ownership of lands that began to appear due to the drainage of the lake were undertaken. Most of this land was declared federal property to be sold. In 1933, the Mexico City–Puebla
highway was built through this area. The first settlements in what is now the municipality were extensions of the municipalities of Chimalhuacán
, La Paz
and Ecatepec
.
The area was known for a bird species called the chichicuilote-atziztizuilotl, which inhabited the lakes and ponds of the Valley of Mexico
. Today it is nearly extinct. The center of the city had an area that specialized in the sale of the bird, both alive and cooked.
These initial settlements were without infrastructure or public services, and efforts to procure these began in the 1940s. In 1945 the Xochiaca dam and the Tequixquiac tunnel were built, the diversion of potable water allowed for the creation of the first formal neighborhoods of Juárez Pantitlán, México and El Sol. By 1949, the area had 2,000 inhabitants. In the 1950s the population of the area grew quickly as people from various parts of Mexico immigrated to the Mexico City area in search of opportunity. This grew to 40,000 by 1954, despite of the lack of other services such as electricity. The area gained more formal administrative status from the state of Mexico in the 1950s as it grew, but by 1959, a group representing the now-33 neighborhoods of the area protested the lack of services, which still included sufficient potable water.
In 1960, the idea emerged to separate this area from the municipality of Chimalhuacán in order to create a new municipality. By this time, the area had a population of 80,000. This idea culminated into the creation of the municipality of Nezahualcóyotl on 3 April 1963 by the state legislature, with Jorge Sáenza Gómez Knoth as the first municipal president.
Conversion of the area into a municipality helped greatly in getting water, pavement, sewer and streetlights in the 1960s and 1970s. However, the sale of land here was legally complicated due to problems in land title. This began to be regulated in the mid 1970s and would continue through the 1980s and into part of the 1990s.
By the early 1980s, major public buildings such as hospitals, the municipal palace, schools, libraries and the Museum of Archeology had been built. The Xochiaca area had become a landfill with a sports facility built along its edge.
The city grew quickly during the 1980s with new neighborhoods, shopping centers and other urban areas built. It became necessary to have a municipal committee dedicated to the control of urban growth.
In 1990s the Ciudad Deportivo (Sports City) and the Universidad Tecnológica de Nezahualcóyotl were established. The population surpassed one million by 1995.
The city has produced a number of athletes, such as Humberto "La Chiquita" González and Graciela Hernández, the first of many wheelchair basketball
gold medalists in the Pan American Games
.
The city is looked down upon by the residents of Mexico City proper, calling it “mi-Nezota” or “Neza York,” which refers to its sprawling size, and urban atmosphere devoid of the colonial structures in the center of town. Trash collection is still done by donkey cart in a number of areas of the city. The city has one the highest crime rates in the State of Mexico.
However, the city is also home of the Orquesta Sinfónica Infantil y Banda Sinfónica de Nezahualcóyotl ("Junior Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Band of Nezahualcóyotl"), created in 1998. It is composed of 45 members ranging in age from 6 to 17 years. It is the only organization of its type in the State of Mexico. It has won various awards, including the “Premio estatal de la juventud 2002” (State Youth Prize of 2002). The orchestra has performed over 200 times, most of these concerts outside of the city itself. It is directed by Roberto Sánchez Chavez.
and Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla located on the Plaza Unión de Fuerzas.
Since 2000, the city has had its own cathedral, officially called the Cathedral of Jesús Señor de la Divina Misericordia (Jesus of the Divine Mercy), but is more commonly called the Cathedral of Nezahualcóyotl. The cathedral was inaugurated by ex bishop José María Hernández González and contains an adjoining chapel, atrium
, bookstore and exterior altarpieces which contains the Lord’s Prayer in six languages: Spanish, Latin
, Nahuatl, Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek
. The year after its opening, the cathedral was robbed of an urn and the sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de María Faustina de Polonia, with a value of over 300,000 pesos.
The main cultural center for the city is the Centro Cultural "Jaime Torres Bodet
" ("Cultural Center Jaime Torres Bodet"), inaugurated on August 25, 1987. The building has three areas. On the ground floor are workshops, exposition halls and conference rooms. On the first floor, there is the Bodet Library, and on the second floor is the Centro de Información y Documentación de Nezahualcóyotl (Center for Information and Documentation of Nezahualcóyotl. This center compiles historical, legal, cartographic, photographic and other types of information about the city and municipality. Other cultural centers include the José Martín Cultural Center, which has the José Guadalupe Posadas gallery, and the Hortus Gallery, which is the first contemporary art gallery in the city.
Stadium “José López Portillo
”, better known as the Neza 86 Stadium
was built in 1981. It was originally inaugurated with its formal name. It was re-inaugurated for the games of the 1986 FIFA World Cup
, with the symbol of “México 86,” leading to its common name. The stadium seats 28,000 people and is officially part of the campus of the Universidad Tecnológica de Nezahualcóyotl (UTN). It has been the home of a number of soccer organizations such as the Coyotes Neza, the Osos Grises and the Toros Neza. Since 2002, it has also been the home stadium of Mexico City professional soccer team Atlante F.C.
.
The Parque del Pueblo (People’s Park) is an 8.5 hectare area which has an artificial lake, a zoo and a train that tours the area. The park was opened in 1975 and also contains a natural history museum, spaces for educational workshops, a lake and an open air theatre. The center of the park is its zoo. It and the rest of the park were closed in 2001 for extensive renovations and reopened in 2003. The zoo houses 260 animals of 57 different species, 31 of which are in danger of extinction. It has also successfully bred species such as white-tailed deer
, Bengal tigers, llama
s, bison
and coyotes. The park receives about 20,000 visitors per year with the zoo charging only five pesos for admission. The admission charge finances administration costs and also goes into a fund to treat drug addiction in the city.
The Ciudad Deportiva is a construction that was begun in 1990, located on the edge of what was the Bordo de Xochiaca landfill. This was the first stage of the reclamation of the landfill area, building sports facilities for volleyball, tennis, soccer (for children and adults), baseball and other sports.
) from the lower classes. The origin of the cholo culture stems from the “pachuco
” culture of the United States in the 1940s among the Hispanics there, which eventually morphed into the gangs that populate cities such as Los Angeles. The phenomenon of gangs came to Mexico from the U.S. in the 1980s. The first Mexican cholo groups came about in the 1990s, and were called by various names, such as “barrios,” “clickas” and “gangas.” Many of these groups were formed by youths who had spent time in the United States returned with a different identity. Most cholos are youths between 13 and 25 years old who generally do not finish school beyond the eighth grade. These groups mimic the organization of gangs found in the United States, especially California. Cholos have their own style of dress and speech. They are known for hand signals, tattoos and graffiti. They are also involved in the use and sale of drugs, especially marijuana. Groups of cholos control various territories in the city. Most of the violence among these groups is over territory. Some of the better known cholo gangs in Neza are “41 Street,” “DK13,” “Cobras 13,” “Los Sur 13,” “Cobras 38,” “Los Mexican,” “Los de la 33,” “La 14” and the “Sur Kings.”
The former municipal president, Luis Sánchez, states that this kind of activity is waning and claims only two cholo groups are true active gangs. The rest are imitations of the lifestyle as a type of counterculture. He also states that no more than 500 youths belong to the gangs which have been identified by the authorities. Other sources state that this is not true and more than 100 groups operate in the city with many more members.
. At the time of closure, it was estimated to contain about twelve million tons of trash.
In the 2000s, a project called Ciudad Jardín Bicentenario was undertaken to seal the landfill and reclaim the land for various purposes. The project first aimed to close and seal the landfill. At the start of the project, about 600 people, who lived around the fill making a living by sorting through the trash were relocated. Next steps were taken to stabilize the ground and install a system to monitor and manage methane
and other gases produced by the decomposing garbage. 2,500 meters of tubes were laid to collect methane gas to lead the collected material to an extraction station. The gas is extracted to keep it from going directly into the atmosphere and to use it for fuel, principally to produce electricity. Investors also predict that they recovery system will prevent 93,000 tons of carbon dioxide
from entering the atmosphere. Rainwater catchment systems were also placed in the area to capture and reuse runoff for the irrigation and cleaning of the 350,000 m2 of grass that has been planted on the site.
The entire project has required an investment of three billion pesos, with most of the money coming from Grupo Carso
, headed by Carlos Slim Helú
. The Ciudad Jardín Bicentenario contains a shopping mall, a rehabilitation center related to the Teletón
, campuses of the Universidad de La Salle and the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México
, offices of the federal judiciary, an installation of the Telmex
Foundation, a hospital called VIVO associated with the Star Médica association.
Lastly, the landfill area also contains the expansion and completion of the Ciudad Deportiva. The facilities were finished in 2009 and stated by investors to be the most modern sports facility in Mexico. The facility was inaugurated in March 2009 by state governor Enrique Peña Nieto
and principle investor Carlos Slim Helú. It contains and nearly Olympic sized stadium, a cycling track, two gymnasiums, 25 soccer fields, five for indoor soccer
, two American football
fields, four tennis courts, four basketball courts, four volleyball
courts, two jai alai
courts, two baseball fields, an aerobics
floor, playgrounds and recreational areas. However, as of January 2010, it is closed to the public because state and municipal authorities have not regularized the title of the land on which it sits. Entrance to the facilities will be free, due to corporate sponsorship to cover administrative costs.
The project has generated over six thousand jobs directly and indirectly and will benefit more than two million inhabitants of Nezahualcóyotl, Chimalhuacán and other areas of the eastern Valley of Mexico.
Universidad Tecnológica de Nezahualcóyotl (UTN) (Technological University of Nezahualcóyotl), http://www.utn.edu.mx/pages/escolar/aspirantes/convocatoria.php was created by the Congress of the State of Mexico in 1991 as part of the Subsistema de Universidades Tecnológicas of Mexico. The institution offers six two-year degrees in Administration, Commerce, Computer Science
, Processes of production, Environmental Technology and Telematics
. The campus has extensive sports facilities includes a volleyball court, an Olympic-sized pool and a professional football stadium.
Escuela Nacional de Estudios Profesionales Aragón UNAM. ENEP-Aragón (National School of Professional Studies- Aragón UNAM, part of the decentralization program of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. This campus is designed for between fifteen and twenty thousand students. ENEP-Aragón offers twelve degrees in Architecture, Journalism, Law, Industrial Design, Economics, Civil Engineering
, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Pedagogy
, Agropecuario Development and Planning, International Relations and Sociology. It also offers a number of graduate degrees. The campus contains and Computer Center, and Open University and a Foreign Language Center.
The city of Nezahualcóyotl is nearly co extensive with the municipality of Nezahualcóyotl with 99.46% of the municipality’s population of 1,110,565 (as of 2010) living within the city limits. Only six localities are considered to be outside the city proper: Colonia Gustavo Baz Prada, Ciudad Jardín, Relleno Sanitario Nezahualcóyotl Segundo, Polígonos, Escuela Laura Riojas de Colosio and 17 de Junio, but the city functions as the local government for these communities. It is the second most populous municipality in the state of México, just below Ecatepec, and the ninth largest in the country. It lies at 2,220 meters above sea level.
The municipality is located in the east of the Valley of Mexico and is part of Greater Mexico City
. The municipality borders the municipalities of Ecatepec de Morelos, La Paz, Chimalhuacán and San Salvador Atenco
in the State of Mexico. To the west and south, it borders the borough of Gustavo A. Madero
, Venustiano Carranza
, Iztapalapa
and Iztacalco
of Mexico City and at the northwest it borders the remains of the Federal Zone of Lake Texcoco.
The municipality has a territory of 63.44 km2, 81% of which is occupied by the city, which consists of 86 neighborhoods called colonias. The rest is part of the Federal Zone of the Ex-Basin of Texcoco. The municipality is flat with only one elevation reading 1,220 meters above sea level. The Los Remedios and a brand of the Churubusco River run through here. At the far northeast is a remnant of Lake Texcoco and an artificial lake was built here as part of the Parque del Puebla to serve as an ecological reserve. The climate is temperate with a fairly cold winter and rain mostly falling between June and October. Average temperature is about 15C with temperatures as high as 34C and as low as -5C. The area has little to no native wild flora and fauna due to the fact that it was underwater until the 20th century and the area is nearly completely urbanized. However, in winter a number of bird species such as cranes
and stork
s pass through.
Because of it urban nature, there is no agriculture in the area and livestock production is minimal, restricted to the very northeastern edges of the municipality and only for auto-consumption. The economy of the municipality is mostly based on commerce, employing over 90% of the population. The second major employer is industry, mostly microindustries.
Municipalities of Mexico
Municipalities are the second-level administrative division in Mexico . There are 2,438 municipalities in Mexico, making the average municipality population 45,616...
of Mexico State adjacent to the northeast corner of Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
's Federal District: it is thus part of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
. It was named after Nezahualcoyotl
Nezahualcoyotl
Nezahualcoyotl was a philosopher, warrior, architect, poet and ruler of the city-state of Texcoco in pre-Columbian Mexico...
, the Acolhua
Acolhua
The Acolhua are a Mesoamerican people who arrived in the Valley of Mexico in or around the year 1200 CE. The Acolhua were a sister culture of the Aztecs as well as the Tepanec, Chalca, Xochimilca and others....
poet and king of nearby Texcoco, and was built on the drained bed of Lake Texcoco
Lake Texcoco
Lake Texcoco was a natural lake formation within the Valley of Mexico. The Aztecs built the city of Tenochtitlan on an island in the lake. The Spaniards built Mexico City over Tenochtitlan...
. The name Nezahualcóyotl comes from Nahuatl
Nahuatl
Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...
, meaning "fasting
Fasting
Fasting is primarily the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a period of time. An absolute fast is normally defined as abstinence from all food and liquid for a defined period, usually a single day , or several days. Other fasts may be only partially restrictive,...
coyote
Coyote
The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...
."
Until the 20th century, the land on which Ciudad Neza sits was under Lake Texcoco
Lake Texcoco
Lake Texcoco was a natural lake formation within the Valley of Mexico. The Aztecs built the city of Tenochtitlan on an island in the lake. The Spaniards built Mexico City over Tenochtitlan...
and uninhabited. Successful draining of the lake in the early 20th century created new land, which the government eventually sold into private hands. However, public services such as adequate potable water, electricity and sewerage were lacking until after the area was made an independent municipality in 1963. Today Ciudad Neza is a sprawling city of over one million entirely with modern buildings. Most of its population is poor, and have migrated from other parts of Mexico. It also has a very high crime rate, in part due to “cholo
Cholo
Cholo is an ethnic slur created by Hispanic criollos in the 16th century, and it has been applied to individuals of mixed or pure American Indian ancestry, or other racially mixed origin. The precise usage of "cholo" has varied widely in different times and places...
s” or gangs formed since the 1990s based on gang models in the United States, especially Los Angeles. Since the 2000s, a significant number of natives of this city have immigrated to the United States, mostly settling in New York. This has led to a new Mexican subculture in the area.
The city and municipality is named after the Aztec King Nezahualcóyotl
Nezahualcoyotl
Nezahualcoyotl was a philosopher, warrior, architect, poet and ruler of the city-state of Texcoco in pre-Columbian Mexico...
. The entity has an Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
glyph
Glyph
A glyph is an element of writing: an individual mark on a written medium that contributes to the meaning of what is written. A glyph is made up of one or more graphemes....
as well as a coat of arms. The glyph depicts the head of a coyote, tongue outside the mouth with a collar or necklace as a symbol of royalty. It was one of the ways of depicting the Aztec king. The current coat of arms, which includes the glyph, was authorized by the municipality in the 1990s.
History
Aztec Triple Alliance
The Aztec Triple Alliance, or Aztec Empire began as an alliance of three Nahua city-states or "altepeme": Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan...
. Texcoco dominated the area in which the modern municipality stands; however the land on which Ciudad Neza stands was under Lake Texcoco until the 20th century. Drainage of the interconnected lakes of the Valley of Mexico began in the early colonial period. The first major drainage project was begun in 1590, with the aim of eliminating the chronic flooding that plagued Mexico City. By the time of the Mexican War of Independence
Mexican War of Independence
The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the people of Mexico and the Spanish colonial authorities which started on 16 September 1810. The movement, which became known as the Mexican War of Independence, was led by Mexican-born Spaniards, Mestizos and Amerindians who sought...
, flooding was still a problem in the Mexico City area, and at that time a project was begun to drain Lake Texcoco directly. The Lake Texcoco area was declared federal property in 1912, after which efforts to completely drain the lake commenced which continued until the 1930s. Starting in 1917 under Venustiano Carranza
Venustiano Carranza
Venustiano Carranza de la Garza, was one of the leaders of the Mexican Revolution. He ultimately became President of Mexico following the overthrow of the dictatorial Huerta regime in the summer of 1914 and during his administration the current constitution of Mexico was drafted...
, efforts to determine legal ownership of lands that began to appear due to the drainage of the lake were undertaken. Most of this land was declared federal property to be sold. In 1933, the Mexico City–Puebla
Puebla, Puebla
The city and municipality of Puebla is the capital of the state of Puebla, and one of the five most important colonial cities in Mexico. Being a planned city, it is located to the east of Mexico City and west of Mexico's main port, Veracruz, on the main route between the two.The city was founded...
highway was built through this area. The first settlements in what is now the municipality were extensions of the municipalities of Chimalhuacán
Chimalhuacán, Mexico State
Chimalhuacán is a city and municipality located in the eastern part of Mexico State, Mexico. It lies just outside the northeast border of the Federal District and is part of the Greater Mexico City urban area. -The city:The city is practically coextensive with the municipality...
, La Paz
Los Reyes Acaquilpan
Los Reyes Acaquilpan is a city and governing head of the municipality of La Paz in Mexico State, Mexico. It is located on the dividing line between Mexico State and the eastern edge of the Federal District. It can therefore be considered part of the Greater Mexico City area...
and Ecatepec
Ecatepec de Morelos
Ecatepec City, once officially San Cristóbal Ecatepec de Morelos, is a city in the State of México and the seat of Ecatepec de Morelos Municipality; however, both the city and the municipality are often known simply as "Ecatepec". The name "Ecatepec" is derived from Nahuatl, and means "windy hill"....
.
The area was known for a bird species called the chichicuilote-atziztizuilotl, which inhabited the lakes and ponds of the Valley of Mexico
Valley of Mexico
The Valley of Mexico is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with the present-day Distrito Federal and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico was a centre for several pre-Columbian civilizations, including...
. Today it is nearly extinct. The center of the city had an area that specialized in the sale of the bird, both alive and cooked.
These initial settlements were without infrastructure or public services, and efforts to procure these began in the 1940s. In 1945 the Xochiaca dam and the Tequixquiac tunnel were built, the diversion of potable water allowed for the creation of the first formal neighborhoods of Juárez Pantitlán, México and El Sol. By 1949, the area had 2,000 inhabitants. In the 1950s the population of the area grew quickly as people from various parts of Mexico immigrated to the Mexico City area in search of opportunity. This grew to 40,000 by 1954, despite of the lack of other services such as electricity. The area gained more formal administrative status from the state of Mexico in the 1950s as it grew, but by 1959, a group representing the now-33 neighborhoods of the area protested the lack of services, which still included sufficient potable water.
In 1960, the idea emerged to separate this area from the municipality of Chimalhuacán in order to create a new municipality. By this time, the area had a population of 80,000. This idea culminated into the creation of the municipality of Nezahualcóyotl on 3 April 1963 by the state legislature, with Jorge Sáenza Gómez Knoth as the first municipal president.
Conversion of the area into a municipality helped greatly in getting water, pavement, sewer and streetlights in the 1960s and 1970s. However, the sale of land here was legally complicated due to problems in land title. This began to be regulated in the mid 1970s and would continue through the 1980s and into part of the 1990s.
By the early 1980s, major public buildings such as hospitals, the municipal palace, schools, libraries and the Museum of Archeology had been built. The Xochiaca area had become a landfill with a sports facility built along its edge.
The city grew quickly during the 1980s with new neighborhoods, shopping centers and other urban areas built. It became necessary to have a municipal committee dedicated to the control of urban growth.
In 1990s the Ciudad Deportivo (Sports City) and the Universidad Tecnológica de Nezahualcóyotl were established. The population surpassed one million by 1995.
The city has produced a number of athletes, such as Humberto "La Chiquita" González and Graciela Hernández, the first of many wheelchair basketball
Wheelchair basketball
Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people in wheelchairs and is considered one of the major disabled sports practiced. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee as the sole...
gold medalists in the Pan American Games
Pan American Games
The Pan-American or Pan American Games are a major event in the Americas featuring summer and formerly winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Pan American Games are the second largest multi-sport event after the Summer Olympics...
.
The city
However, the city is also home of the Orquesta Sinfónica Infantil y Banda Sinfónica de Nezahualcóyotl ("Junior Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Band of Nezahualcóyotl"), created in 1998. It is composed of 45 members ranging in age from 6 to 17 years. It is the only organization of its type in the State of Mexico. It has won various awards, including the “Premio estatal de la juventud 2002” (State Youth Prize of 2002). The orchestra has performed over 200 times, most of these concerts outside of the city itself. It is directed by Roberto Sánchez Chavez.
Landmarks
All of its civil constructions such as the municipal palace, the Casa de Cultura, the Alfred del Mazo Vélez Auditorium and others are of modern design. In front of the municipal palace there are monuments to Nezahualcóyotl, CuauhtémocCuauhtémoc
Cuauhtémoc was the Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521...
and Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla located on the Plaza Unión de Fuerzas.
Since 2000, the city has had its own cathedral, officially called the Cathedral of Jesús Señor de la Divina Misericordia (Jesus of the Divine Mercy), but is more commonly called the Cathedral of Nezahualcóyotl. The cathedral was inaugurated by ex bishop José María Hernández González and contains an adjoining chapel, atrium
Atrium (architecture)
In modern architecture, an atrium is a large open space, often several stories high and having a glazed roof and/or large windows, often situated within a larger multistory building and often located immediately beyond the main entrance doors...
, bookstore and exterior altarpieces which contains the Lord’s Prayer in six languages: Spanish, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, Nahuatl, Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
. The year after its opening, the cathedral was robbed of an urn and the sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de María Faustina de Polonia, with a value of over 300,000 pesos.
The main cultural center for the city is the Centro Cultural "Jaime Torres Bodet
Jaime Torres Bodet
Jaime Torres Bodet was a prominent Mexican politician and writer who served in the executive cabinet of three Presidents of Mexico....
" ("Cultural Center Jaime Torres Bodet"), inaugurated on August 25, 1987. The building has three areas. On the ground floor are workshops, exposition halls and conference rooms. On the first floor, there is the Bodet Library, and on the second floor is the Centro de Información y Documentación de Nezahualcóyotl (Center for Information and Documentation of Nezahualcóyotl. This center compiles historical, legal, cartographic, photographic and other types of information about the city and municipality. Other cultural centers include the José Martín Cultural Center, which has the José Guadalupe Posadas gallery, and the Hortus Gallery, which is the first contemporary art gallery in the city.
José López Portillo
José López Portillo y Pacheco was the President of Mexico from 1976 to 1982.Born in Mexico City, López Portillo studied Law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico before beginning his political career with the Institutional Revolutionary Party in 1959.He held several positions in the...
”, better known as the Neza 86 Stadium
Estadio Neza 86
Estadio Neza 86 is a football stadium in Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, a commuter town located east of Mexico City in the State of Mexico. The stadium is located on the grounds of the main campus of the Universidad Tecnológica de Nezahualcóyotl.- History :...
was built in 1981. It was originally inaugurated with its formal name. It was re-inaugurated for the games of the 1986 FIFA World Cup
1986 FIFA World Cup
The 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so and officially...
, with the symbol of “México 86,” leading to its common name. The stadium seats 28,000 people and is officially part of the campus of the Universidad Tecnológica de Nezahualcóyotl (UTN). It has been the home of a number of soccer organizations such as the Coyotes Neza, the Osos Grises and the Toros Neza. Since 2002, it has also been the home stadium of Mexico City professional soccer team Atlante F.C.
Atlante F.C.
Club de Fútbol Atlante, is a Mexican professional football club, currently playing in the Mexican First Division League. The club is based in Cancún, Mexico as of the start of the 2007-08 season, when they relocated from Mexico City, and plays its home games in Estadio Andrés Quintana Roo.-Domestic...
.
The Parque del Pueblo (People’s Park) is an 8.5 hectare area which has an artificial lake, a zoo and a train that tours the area. The park was opened in 1975 and also contains a natural history museum, spaces for educational workshops, a lake and an open air theatre. The center of the park is its zoo. It and the rest of the park were closed in 2001 for extensive renovations and reopened in 2003. The zoo houses 260 animals of 57 different species, 31 of which are in danger of extinction. It has also successfully bred species such as white-tailed deer
White-tailed Deer
The white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
, Bengal tigers, llama
Llama
The llama is a South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since pre-Hispanic times....
s, bison
Bison
Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...
and coyotes. The park receives about 20,000 visitors per year with the zoo charging only five pesos for admission. The admission charge finances administration costs and also goes into a fund to treat drug addiction in the city.
The Ciudad Deportiva is a construction that was begun in 1990, located on the edge of what was the Bordo de Xochiaca landfill. This was the first stage of the reclamation of the landfill area, building sports facilities for volleyball, tennis, soccer (for children and adults), baseball and other sports.
Cholos
To be a “cholo” is to be a part of a youth subculture associated with drugs and gangs which is strongly associated with Ciudad Neza. The word cholo, as used in various Latin American countries, referred to a person of mixed race (mestizoMestizo
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
) from the lower classes. The origin of the cholo culture stems from the “pachuco
Pachuco
Pachucos are Chicano youths who developed their own subculture during the 1930s and 1940s in the Southwestern United States. They wore distinctive clothing and spoke their own dialect of Mexican Spanish, called Caló or Pachuco...
” culture of the United States in the 1940s among the Hispanics there, which eventually morphed into the gangs that populate cities such as Los Angeles. The phenomenon of gangs came to Mexico from the U.S. in the 1980s. The first Mexican cholo groups came about in the 1990s, and were called by various names, such as “barrios,” “clickas” and “gangas.” Many of these groups were formed by youths who had spent time in the United States returned with a different identity. Most cholos are youths between 13 and 25 years old who generally do not finish school beyond the eighth grade. These groups mimic the organization of gangs found in the United States, especially California. Cholos have their own style of dress and speech. They are known for hand signals, tattoos and graffiti. They are also involved in the use and sale of drugs, especially marijuana. Groups of cholos control various territories in the city. Most of the violence among these groups is over territory. Some of the better known cholo gangs in Neza are “41 Street,” “DK13,” “Cobras 13,” “Los Sur 13,” “Cobras 38,” “Los Mexican,” “Los de la 33,” “La 14” and the “Sur Kings.”
The former municipal president, Luis Sánchez, states that this kind of activity is waning and claims only two cholo groups are true active gangs. The rest are imitations of the lifestyle as a type of counterculture. He also states that no more than 500 youths belong to the gangs which have been identified by the authorities. Other sources state that this is not true and more than 100 groups operate in the city with many more members.
The old Borda de Xochiaca landfill
The Borda de Xochiaca landfill was one of the largest landfills in the Valley of Mexico, covering 150 hectares. It was an open-pit landfill which operated from the 1970s until it was closed in 2006. At one time it was ranked as one of the dirtiest in the world by the World BankWorld Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
. At the time of closure, it was estimated to contain about twelve million tons of trash.
In the 2000s, a project called Ciudad Jardín Bicentenario was undertaken to seal the landfill and reclaim the land for various purposes. The project first aimed to close and seal the landfill. At the start of the project, about 600 people, who lived around the fill making a living by sorting through the trash were relocated. Next steps were taken to stabilize the ground and install a system to monitor and manage methane
Methane
Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
and other gases produced by the decomposing garbage. 2,500 meters of tubes were laid to collect methane gas to lead the collected material to an extraction station. The gas is extracted to keep it from going directly into the atmosphere and to use it for fuel, principally to produce electricity. Investors also predict that they recovery system will prevent 93,000 tons of carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
from entering the atmosphere. Rainwater catchment systems were also placed in the area to capture and reuse runoff for the irrigation and cleaning of the 350,000 m2 of grass that has been planted on the site.
The entire project has required an investment of three billion pesos, with most of the money coming from Grupo Carso
Grupo Carso
Grupo Carso is a global conglomerate company owned by the Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim. It was formed in 1990 after the merger of Corporación Industrial Carso and Grupo Inbursa...
, headed by Carlos Slim Helú
Carlos Slim Helú
Carlos Slim Helú is a Mexican business magnate and philanthropist who as of 2011 is the richest person in the world, for the second year in a row...
. The Ciudad Jardín Bicentenario contains a shopping mall, a rehabilitation center related to the Teletón
Teletón (Mexico)
The Teletón in Mexico is an annual 24-plus-hour TV and radio broadcast, started in 1996, to raise money for children's rehabilitation centers for disabled children. Mexico's proposal was due to the initiative of Fernando Landeros...
, campuses of the Universidad de La Salle and the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México
Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México
The Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México is a public university in the State of Mexico, Mexico. It is the largest university institution in the state with over 84,500 students, with its central campus located in the state capital of Toluca...
, offices of the federal judiciary, an installation of the Telmex
Telmex
Telmex is a telecommunications company headquartered in Mexico City that provides telecommunication products and services in Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and other countries in Latin America. In addition to traditional fixed-line telephone service, Telmex also offers Internet access, data,...
Foundation, a hospital called VIVO associated with the Star Médica association.
Lastly, the landfill area also contains the expansion and completion of the Ciudad Deportiva. The facilities were finished in 2009 and stated by investors to be the most modern sports facility in Mexico. The facility was inaugurated in March 2009 by state governor Enrique Peña Nieto
Enrique Peña Nieto
Enrique Peña Nieto is a Mexican politician. A member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party , he served as governor of the State of Mexico from 2005 to 2011. On September 19, 2011, he announced his candidacy in the 2012 Mexican presidential election to succeed Felipe Calderón...
and principle investor Carlos Slim Helú. It contains and nearly Olympic sized stadium, a cycling track, two gymnasiums, 25 soccer fields, five for indoor soccer
Indoor soccer
Indoor soccer or arena soccer, or six-a-side football in the United Kingdom, is a game derived from association football adapted for play in an indoor arena such as a turf-covered hockey arena or skating rink. The most important difference in play is that the indoor field is surrounded by a wall...
, two American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
fields, four tennis courts, four basketball courts, four volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
courts, two jai alai
Jai alai
Jai alai is a sport involving a ball bounced off a walled space. It is a variety of Basque Pelota. The term, coined by Serafin Baroja in 1875, is also often loosely applied to the fronton where the sport is played...
courts, two baseball fields, an aerobics
Aerobics
Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness...
floor, playgrounds and recreational areas. However, as of January 2010, it is closed to the public because state and municipal authorities have not regularized the title of the land on which it sits. Entrance to the facilities will be free, due to corporate sponsorship to cover administrative costs.
The project has generated over six thousand jobs directly and indirectly and will benefit more than two million inhabitants of Nezahualcóyotl, Chimalhuacán and other areas of the eastern Valley of Mexico.
Education
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
, Processes of production, Environmental Technology and Telematics
Telematics
Telematics typically is any integrated use of telecommunications and informatics, also known as ICT...
. The campus has extensive sports facilities includes a volleyball court, an Olympic-sized pool and a professional football stadium.
Escuela Nacional de Estudios Profesionales Aragón UNAM. ENEP-Aragón (National School of Professional Studies- Aragón UNAM, part of the decentralization program of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. This campus is designed for between fifteen and twenty thousand students. ENEP-Aragón offers twelve degrees in Architecture, Journalism, Law, Industrial Design, Economics, Civil Engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
, Computer Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Pedagogy
Pedagogy
Pedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....
, Agropecuario Development and Planning, International Relations and Sociology. It also offers a number of graduate degrees. The campus contains and Computer Center, and Open University and a Foreign Language Center.
Neza York/New York
Until the 2000s, most migrants to the United States, especially to places like New York, were from poor rural areas. However, since the turn of the century, another wave of immigrants is coming from poor urban areas such as Ciudad Neza. These immigrants tend to young and better educated than their rural counterparts, and tend also to keep separate from them. This is bringing into existence a new Mexican subculture called “Neza York” distinguished by dress, speech and the likelihood of learning English. Businesses with names like Tacos Neza and Neza Grocery have appeared in New York City.The municipality
The municipality is located in the east of the Valley of Mexico and is part of Greater Mexico City
Greater Mexico City
Greater Mexico City refers to the conurbation around Mexico City, officially called Mexico City Metropolitan Area , constituted by the Federal District—itself composed of 16 boroughs—and 41 adjacent municipalities of the states of Mexico and Hidalgo...
. The municipality borders the municipalities of Ecatepec de Morelos, La Paz, Chimalhuacán and San Salvador Atenco
San Salvador Atenco
San Salvador Atenco is the municipal seat of Atenco, in the Mexican state of Mexico.The name "Atenco" comes from a Nahuatl phrase meaning "place on the edge of water". -The town:...
in the State of Mexico. To the west and south, it borders the borough of Gustavo A. Madero
Gustavo A. Madero, D.F.
Gustavo A. Madero is one of the 16 delegaciones into which Mexico's Federal District is divided.-Origins:Founded as "Villa de Guadalupe" in 1563, it became the city of "Villa de Guadalupe Hidalgo" in 1828, and finally a delegación in 1931; as such, it was named after Gustavo A. Madero, the brother...
, Venustiano Carranza
Venustiano Carranza, D.F.
Venustiano Carranza is one of the 16 delegaciones of Mexico's Federal District. The borough was formed in 1970 when the center of Mexico City was subdivided into four boroughs...
, Iztapalapa
Iztapalapa
Iztapalapa is one of the Federal District of Mexico City’s 16 boroughs, located on the east side of the entity. The borough is named after and centered on the formerly independent municipality of Iztapalapa, which is officially called Iztapalapa de Cuitláhuac for disambiguation purposes...
and Iztacalco
Iztacalco
Iztacalco is one of the 16 delegaciones into which Mexico's Federal District is divided. It is located in the center-east of the district and is the smallest of the city’s boroughs. The area’s history began in 1309 when the island of Iztacalco, in what was Lake Texcoco, was settled in 1309 by the...
of Mexico City and at the northwest it borders the remains of the Federal Zone of Lake Texcoco.
The municipality has a territory of 63.44 km2, 81% of which is occupied by the city, which consists of 86 neighborhoods called colonias. The rest is part of the Federal Zone of the Ex-Basin of Texcoco. The municipality is flat with only one elevation reading 1,220 meters above sea level. The Los Remedios and a brand of the Churubusco River run through here. At the far northeast is a remnant of Lake Texcoco and an artificial lake was built here as part of the Parque del Puebla to serve as an ecological reserve. The climate is temperate with a fairly cold winter and rain mostly falling between June and October. Average temperature is about 15C with temperatures as high as 34C and as low as -5C. The area has little to no native wild flora and fauna due to the fact that it was underwater until the 20th century and the area is nearly completely urbanized. However, in winter a number of bird species such as cranes
Crane (bird)
Cranes are a family, Gruidae, of large, long-legged and long-necked birds in the order Gruiformes. There are fifteen species of crane in four genera. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back...
and stork
Stork
Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family Ciconiidae. They are the only family in the biological order Ciconiiformes, which was once much larger and held a number of families....
s pass through.
Because of it urban nature, there is no agriculture in the area and livestock production is minimal, restricted to the very northeastern edges of the municipality and only for auto-consumption. The economy of the municipality is mostly based on commerce, employing over 90% of the population. The second major employer is industry, mostly microindustries.
Towns and villages
Localities (cities, towns, and villages) are:| Name | 2010 Census population |
|---|---|
| Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl, or more commonly Ciudad Neza, is a city and municipality of Mexico State adjacent to the northeast corner of Mexico's Federal District: it is thus part of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area. It was named after Nezahualcoyotl, the Acolhua poet and king of nearby Texcoco, and... |
1,104,585 |
| Colonia Gustavo Baz Prada | 3,291 |
| Polígonos | 2,482 |
| Ciudad Jardín | 91 |
| Nezahualcóyotl Segundo [Relleno Sanitario] | 64 |
| 17 de Junio | 34 |
| Laura Riojas de Colosio [school] | 18 |
| Total municipality | 1,110,565 |