Unidad Habitacional Nonoalco-Tlatelolco
Encyclopedia
The Unidad Habitacional Nonoalco-Tlatelolco is the largest apartment complex in Mexico, located in the Cuautemoc borough
of Mexico City
. It was built in the 1960s by architect Mario Pani
. Originally, the complex had 102 apartment buildings, with its own schools, hospitals, stores and more, to make it a city within a city. It was also created to be a kind of human habitat and includes artwork such as murals and green spaces such as the Santiago Tlatelolco Garden. Today, the complex is smaller than it was and in a state of deterioration, mostly due the effects and after effects of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake
. This quake caused the immediate collapse of the Nuevo Leon building with others being demolished in the months afterwards. Further earthquakes in 1993 caused the condemnation of more buildings. In addition to the lost buildings, many residents eventually undersold or abandoned their apartments, as repairs were either never made or made poorly.
Today the complex consists of 90 apartment buildings, divided into three sections bordered by Avenida de los Insurgentes, Eje 1 Poniente Guerrero, Eje Central
and Paseo de la Reforma
. Originally, the complex was designed to house people from different economic social strata, but today almost all of low or very low income. Crime is a major problem as is the structural integrity of the remaining buildings.
The complex was ordered built by the administration of President Adolfo López Mateos
, between 1960 and 1965, with financing and condominium administration provided by the Banco Nacional Hipotecario, Urbano y de Obras Publicas, S.A. The area has been an urban center since the pre-Hispanic period, when it began as an independent city state
on an island in Lake Texcoco
. By the time Spaniards arrived, the island had been incorporated into the Aztec Empire centered in the nearby island city of Tenochtitlan. Tlatelolco was famous for its large market, which continued to exist after the Spanish conquest. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the area was a train yard for the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México
. The modern apartment complex was built over the then-abandoned train yard. It surrounds the Plaza de las Tres Culturas
, a place that symbolizes the synthesis of Mexico’s pre-Hispanic and colonial pasts with the modern day. This plaza contains the archeological site of Tlatelolco
with its ceremonial center, the parish church of Santiago Tlatelolco and the modern buildings that surround them, including a building associated with the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores. The project involved a total of 130 buildings over an area of 1200000 square metre, with schools, hospitals, markets, businesses, church and police stations. Its signature building was the Torre Insignia
or Torre Banobras. This was built in the form of a triangle or lance point (to resist temblors) 127 meters high with 24 floors. It was originally surrounded by gardens and had a large reflective pool. This tower contains the Carrillon Clasico, one of the world’s few glockenspiel
s and the only one in Mexico City. It consists of 47 metallic bells, considered to be the optimal number for four octaves. They were cast in Belgium
and weigh 26 tons. The main bells are dedicated to Hidalgo, Morelos, Cuauhtémoc
, Madero
and López Mateos . A sixth bell is dedicated to relations between Mexico and Belgium.
The complex was divided into three sections. Section one was created for family with limited resources. It aligns with the Torre de Baniobras. Section two was designed for the middle class with Section three, between Eje Central and Paseo de la Reforma, for the wealthy. The complex’s main park, twice the size of the Alameda Central
, was built in Romantic style. This is known as the Santiago Tlatelolco Garden. Access is through a number of arched entryways, on gray and red stone paths which join in the center. Off the paths are maintained green areas. The garden was built as an integral part of the complex to provide green space. Murals were commissioned for a number of the buildings. The first and most important is located on the Aguascalientes Building, near the Plaza de las Tres Culturas. It contains four panels, one on each side of the building, dealing with the history of Tlatelolco. This was painted by Nicandro Puente. This same artist also created other works here including Tlatelolco, raíz y expresión de México (1998), Homenaje a la mujer (1999) and 1985: Sismo y resurrección (2000) .
The project was awarded to architect Mario Pani (along with Ricardo de Robina) at a time when Mexico and Mexico City was experiencing rapid economic expansion. Born in 1911, Mari Pani was a Mexican architect who mostly grew up in Europe and obtained his degree in architecture from the École des Beaux-Arts
in Paris in 1934. After returning to Mexico, he became part of a movement to make Mexico, especially Mexico City, modern, post-Revolution
and progressive. Pani’s work focused on major residential centers such as large apartment buildings and condominiums. Works like Nonoalco are classified as “supermanzanas” or “super (city) blocks.” His work changed the focus of urban housing from horizontal to vertical. His works are marked by being monumental, simple and recurring features. At their height, they were considered to be symbols of Mexican prosperity. Works prior to this included Hotel Reforma (1936), Hotel Plaza (1946), Conservatorio Nacional de Musica (1946), the Escuela Nacional de Maestros (1947), as well the apartment complexes Mulitfamiliar Alemán (1950) and Multifamiliar Juárez. These were complexes for the working class, integrating parks, artwork (especially murals) and other features in order to create a “habitat.”
However, the Unidad Habitacional Nonoalco-Tlatelolco would become his best known work. He created the area as a city within a city, to be autonomous with each block having all the services necessary for residents. The idea was to eliminate the need to leave the area, not even to work. Pani integrated the principles of functionalism
as it was conceived and practiced at the end of the 1950s.
on 2 October 1968,which occurred on the Plaza de las Tres Cultures. The area’s only fire station closed during that year and police presence began to diminish, leading to rising crime. The complex suffered damage two small earthquakes in 1979.
However, deterioration greatly accelerated with the 1985 Mexico City earthquake. Before 19 September 1985, the complex consisted of 102 apartment buildings, seven medical facilities, twenty two schools, and about 500 small businesses serving the 80,000 residents living there. It was still considered the most important complex of its kind in the country.
The complex is located in the Cuauhtémoc borough, which is considered to be a high risk area for earthquake activity most of it lies on former lakebed, with its soft, waterlogged soils. These soils are crisscrossed with small fault lines of their own. These intensify shockwaves that pass through the area from quakes that occurs on Mexico’s Pacific coast. Within the borough, Nonoalco-Tlatelolco is one of eleven colonias
or neighborhoods considered to be at highest risk. The complex is in a “dynamic amplification” zone, where the shockwaves of a quake over 7 on the Richter scale become strongly amplified.
During the 90 seconds the ground shook on that day, two of the three sections of the Nuevo Leon building fell with about 500 dead, more than 200 missing and 27 orphans. Other buildings, such as the Yucatan, threatened to collapse that day, but did not. All the buildings suffered damage but along with the collapsed Nuevo León building, buildings such as those called Veracruz, Yucatán and Oaxaca suffered severe damage such as severely cracked foundations. Twelve buildings in the complex were so severely damaged that they were demolished in the next six months. 32 of the buildings were in need of major repairs. Twenty seven were demolished completely. Many remained standing but some of these were too dangerous to occupy at all. The severe damage to this and to the Mulifamiliar Juàrez made for a large percentage of the 30,00 housing units lost on that day. Nonoalco-Tlatelolco was declared a disaster area. What remained of the Nuevo Leon building and the Campeche building were the first to be demolished. This area would become the Nuevo Leon Plaza. The reconstruction contract the city government signed promised to return residents to their units in two years. The project lasted until late in the 1990s. Thirty buildings were partially destroyed, removing upper floors. Sixty buildings received minor repairs. Ten were reinforced. The initially budgeted money ran out in six years. Repairs made were shoddy, replacing door, floors and more with inferior materials. Even baths and integrated kitchens which were not damaged were taken out and replaced with inferior ones. Many, who could not afford to wait further, sold their units at bargain prices, often to those politically connected, or just abandoned them altogether, allowing squatters to move in.
Another quake in 1993, caused the demolition of the Atizapán and 20 de Noviembre buildings as well as the two Tecpan towers. The Torre Insignia was abandoned in the same year. Despite repair work being officially declared finished in 1995, buildings were left with large cracks in the wall, loose wiring, half done projects, unhinged door, inoperable elevators and more. This is in spite of the 600 million pesos spent on the effort. In that year, the complex was left with approximately 40,000 inhabitants in 90 buildings and 10,560 apartments.
A number of buildings in the complex were damaged once again by a 6.3 Guerrero
centered quake that passed through Mexico City in 2007.
Twenty eight percent of the space is dedicated to green spaces, sidewalks and roadway. Its main road extends from east to west, measuring 2.5 km. There are 22 schools, three health clinics, a hospital, three social clubs, a union office, four movie theaters, a Metro stop, offices of the SRE as well as 90 apartment buildings.
Since 1985, a number of preventative measures have been taken in the surviving buildings including inspections and the removal of accessory or decorative features that may be in danger of falling off. However, the deterioration of the area continues. Today, the socioeconomic level of the complex is low to very low. Many residents blame the government for failing to halt the deterioration. Others also blame residents’ failure to identify themselves as part of a community and as owners of or responsible for the complex’s common spaces. This is especially true of the parks and other spaces between the buildings.
The two major issues for the complex are crime and the structural soundness and maintenance of the area. The complex and surrounding neighborhoods such as Colonia Morelos
, Atlampla, Colonia Guerrero, Tepito
, Colonia Buenavista
, and San Simon Tolonahuac and Colonia Peralvillo
are all high crime areas, which makes the security more difficult. The most common infractions are petty robbery, urination in public and public drinking. About three arrests per day are made for these offenses. However, there is insufficient police coverage for the complex. The area should have, as a minimum, 30 police assigned to each section, for a total of 90. The 17th Agrupamiento of Auxiliary Police is assigned to the area, but there are only four security modules are manned with six police each. Of the six mini police stations here, three are abandoned or used as storage, and the remaining three do not have telephone lines to allow residents to call directly. It is rare to find police on patrol here at night, and police from outside are reluctant to enter. This has led to the establishment of eleven known gangs, with members from age 12 to 20, which are based here. These gangs are dedicated to the sale of drugs, muggings and car theft. An area of 200,000 m2 suffers an average of six serious crimes per day and the robbery of fourteen cars per month. Some of the worst activity occurs in the Chihuahua building. Crime against residents is worst in the common areas, with about half having witnessed or been victim of a crime, usually robbery, both in the streets and in their homes and businesses. Homicide is also common.
Structural problems include the relatively fragile state of the remaining buildings and their susceptibility to further damage. The weight of the complex is causing the subsoil to sink. In addition to the problems remaining from inadequate earthquake repairs, many of the buildings are leaning as well. This has prompted monitoring from both the city government and several universities over the 2000s. Because of fears of further damage, residents of the complex have opposed construction projects such as a vehicular overpass on Flores Magnon street, and more recently, the construction and operation of Line 3 of the city’s Metrobus
, which is being constructed in 2010.
In addition to the soundness of the structures, there are problems with homeless and squatters, graffiti, flooding due to lack of pumps, the lack of garbage collection leading to rat infestations and the destruction of parks and other common areas.
Cuauhtémoc, D.F.
Cuauhtémoc, named after the former Aztec leader, is one of the 16 boroughs of the Federal district of Mexico City. It consists of the oldest parts of the city, extending over what was the entire city in the 1920s. This area is the historic and culture center of the city, although it is not the...
of Mexico City
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 built in the 1960s by architect Mario Pani
Mario Pani
Mario Pani Darqui was a Mexican architect and urbanist, one of the most active under the rule of president Miguel Alemán Valdés...
. Originally, the complex had 102 apartment buildings, with its own schools, hospitals, stores and more, to make it a city within a city. It was also created to be a kind of human habitat and includes artwork such as murals and green spaces such as the Santiago Tlatelolco Garden. Today, the complex is smaller than it was and in a state of deterioration, mostly due the effects and after effects of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake
1985 Mexico City earthquake
The 1985 Mexico City earthquake, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake that struck Mexico City on the early morning of 19 September 1985 at around 7:19 AM , caused the deaths of at least 10,000 people and serious damage to the greater Mexico City Area. The complete seismic event...
. This quake caused the immediate collapse of the Nuevo Leon building with others being demolished in the months afterwards. Further earthquakes in 1993 caused the condemnation of more buildings. In addition to the lost buildings, many residents eventually undersold or abandoned their apartments, as repairs were either never made or made poorly.
Today the complex consists of 90 apartment buildings, divided into three sections bordered by Avenida de los Insurgentes, Eje 1 Poniente Guerrero, Eje Central
Eje Central
The Eje Central is part of a system of roadways built by Carlos Hank González to make Mexico City more automobile-friendly....
and Paseo de la Reforma
Paseo de la Reforma
Paseo de la Reforma is a wide avenue that runs in a straight line, cutting diagonally across Mexico City. It was designed by Ferdinand von Rosenzweig in the 1860s and modeled after the great boulevards of Europe, such as Vienna's Ringstrasse or the Champs-Élysées in Paris...
. Originally, the complex was designed to house people from different economic social strata, but today almost all of low or very low income. Crime is a major problem as is the structural integrity of the remaining buildings.
Construction
Adolfo López Mateos
Adolfo López Mateos was a Mexican politician affiliated to the Institutional Revolutionary Party who served as President of Mexico from 1958 to 1964...
, between 1960 and 1965, with financing and condominium administration provided by the Banco Nacional Hipotecario, Urbano y de Obras Publicas, S.A. The area has been an urban center since the pre-Hispanic period, when it began as an independent city state
Tlatelolco (altepetl)
Tlatelolco was a pre-Columbian Nahua altepetl in the Valley of Mexico. Its inhabitants were known as Tlatelolca. The Tlatelolca were a part of the Mexica ethnic group, a Nahuatl speaking people who arrived in what is now central Mexico in the 13th century...
on an island in 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...
. By the time Spaniards arrived, the island had been incorporated into the Aztec Empire centered in the nearby island city of Tenochtitlan. Tlatelolco was famous for its large market, which continued to exist after the Spanish conquest. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the area was a train yard for the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México
Ferrocarriles Nacionales de México, was Mexico's state owned railroad company from 1938 to 1998, and prior to 1938 a major railroad controlled by the government that linked Mexico City to the major cities of Nuevo Laredo and Ciudad Juárez on the U.S. border...
. The modern apartment complex was built over the then-abandoned train yard. It surrounds the Plaza de las Tres Culturas
Plaza de las Tres Culturas
The Plaza de las Tres Culturas is the main square within the Tlatelolco neighbourhood of Mexico City. The name "Three Cultures" is in recognition of the three periods of Mexican history reflected by those buildings pre-Columbian, Spanish colonial, and the independent "mestizo" nation...
, a place that symbolizes the synthesis of Mexico’s pre-Hispanic and colonial pasts with the modern day. This plaza contains the archeological site of Tlatelolco
Tlatelolco (archaeological site)
Tlatelolco is an archaeological excavation site in Mexico City, Mexico where remains of the pre-Columbian city-state of the same name have been found...
with its ceremonial center, the parish church of Santiago Tlatelolco and the modern buildings that surround them, including a building associated with the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores. The project involved a total of 130 buildings over an area of 1200000 square metre, with schools, hospitals, markets, businesses, church and police stations. Its signature building was the Torre Insignia
Torre Insignia
Torre Insignia is a building designed by Mario Pani Darqui which is located on the corner of Avenida Ricardo Flores Magnon and Avenida de los Insurgentes Norte, in the Tlateloco housing complex in Cuauhtémoc in Mexico City...
or Torre Banobras. This was built in the form of a triangle or lance point (to resist temblors) 127 meters high with 24 floors. It was originally surrounded by gardens and had a large reflective pool. This tower contains the Carrillon Clasico, one of the world’s few glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
s and the only one in Mexico City. It consists of 47 metallic bells, considered to be the optimal number for four octaves. They were cast in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and weigh 26 tons. The main bells are dedicated to Hidalgo, Morelos, Cuauhtémoc
Cuauhtémoc
Cuauhtémoc was the Aztec ruler of Tenochtitlan from 1520 to 1521...
, Madero
Francisco I. Madero
Francisco Ignacio Madero González was a politician, writer and revolutionary who served as President of Mexico from 1911 to 1913. As a respectable upper-class politician, he supplied a center around which opposition to the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz could coalesce...
and López Mateos . A sixth bell is dedicated to relations between Mexico and Belgium.
The complex was divided into three sections. Section one was created for family with limited resources. It aligns with the Torre de Baniobras. Section two was designed for the middle class with Section three, between Eje Central and Paseo de la Reforma, for the wealthy. The complex’s main park, twice the size of the Alameda Central
Mexico City Alameda Central
Alameda Central is a public municipal park in downtown Mexico City, adjacent to the Palacio de Bellas Artes, between Juarez Avenue and Hidalgo Avenue.-Description:...
, was built in Romantic style. This is known as the Santiago Tlatelolco Garden. Access is through a number of arched entryways, on gray and red stone paths which join in the center. Off the paths are maintained green areas. The garden was built as an integral part of the complex to provide green space. Murals were commissioned for a number of the buildings. The first and most important is located on the Aguascalientes Building, near the Plaza de las Tres Culturas. It contains four panels, one on each side of the building, dealing with the history of Tlatelolco. This was painted by Nicandro Puente. This same artist also created other works here including Tlatelolco, raíz y expresión de México (1998), Homenaje a la mujer (1999) and 1985: Sismo y resurrección (2000) .
The project was awarded to architect Mario Pani (along with Ricardo de Robina) at a time when Mexico and Mexico City was experiencing rapid economic expansion. Born in 1911, Mari Pani was a Mexican architect who mostly grew up in Europe and obtained his degree in architecture from the École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The most famous is the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, now located on the left bank in Paris, across the Seine from the Louvre, in the 6th arrondissement. The school has a history spanning more than 350 years,...
in Paris in 1934. After returning to Mexico, he became part of a movement to make Mexico, especially Mexico City, modern, post-Revolution
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
and progressive. Pani’s work focused on major residential centers such as large apartment buildings and condominiums. Works like Nonoalco are classified as “supermanzanas” or “super (city) blocks.” His work changed the focus of urban housing from horizontal to vertical. His works are marked by being monumental, simple and recurring features. At their height, they were considered to be symbols of Mexican prosperity. Works prior to this included Hotel Reforma (1936), Hotel Plaza (1946), Conservatorio Nacional de Musica (1946), the Escuela Nacional de Maestros (1947), as well the apartment complexes Mulitfamiliar Alemán (1950) and Multifamiliar Juárez. These were complexes for the working class, integrating parks, artwork (especially murals) and other features in order to create a “habitat.”
However, the Unidad Habitacional Nonoalco-Tlatelolco would become his best known work. He created the area as a city within a city, to be autonomous with each block having all the services necessary for residents. The idea was to eliminate the need to leave the area, not even to work. Pani integrated the principles of functionalism
Functionalism (architecture)
Functionalism, in architecture, is the principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building. This statement is less self-evident than it first appears, and is a matter of confusion and controversy within the profession, particularly in regard to modern...
as it was conceived and practiced at the end of the 1950s.
Decline
Quality of life in the area diminished after the Tlatelolco massacreTlatelolco massacre
The Tlatelolco massacre, also known as The Night of Tlatelolco , was a government massacre of student and civilian protesters and bystanders that took place during the afternoon and night of October 2, 1968, in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in the Tlatelolco section of Mexico City...
on 2 October 1968,which occurred on the Plaza de las Tres Cultures. The area’s only fire station closed during that year and police presence began to diminish, leading to rising crime. The complex suffered damage two small earthquakes in 1979.
However, deterioration greatly accelerated with the 1985 Mexico City earthquake. Before 19 September 1985, the complex consisted of 102 apartment buildings, seven medical facilities, twenty two schools, and about 500 small businesses serving the 80,000 residents living there. It was still considered the most important complex of its kind in the country.
The complex is located in the Cuauhtémoc borough, which is considered to be a high risk area for earthquake activity most of it lies on former lakebed, with its soft, waterlogged soils. These soils are crisscrossed with small fault lines of their own. These intensify shockwaves that pass through the area from quakes that occurs on Mexico’s Pacific coast. Within the borough, Nonoalco-Tlatelolco is one of eleven colonias
Colonia (Mexico)
In general, colonias are neighborhoods in Mexican cities, which have no jurisdictional autonomy or representation. It is plausible that the name, which literally means colony, arose in the late 19th, early 20th centuries, when one of the first urban developments outside Mexico City's core was...
or neighborhoods considered to be at highest risk. The complex is in a “dynamic amplification” zone, where the shockwaves of a quake over 7 on the Richter scale become strongly amplified.
During the 90 seconds the ground shook on that day, two of the three sections of the Nuevo Leon building fell with about 500 dead, more than 200 missing and 27 orphans. Other buildings, such as the Yucatan, threatened to collapse that day, but did not. All the buildings suffered damage but along with the collapsed Nuevo León building, buildings such as those called Veracruz, Yucatán and Oaxaca suffered severe damage such as severely cracked foundations. Twelve buildings in the complex were so severely damaged that they were demolished in the next six months. 32 of the buildings were in need of major repairs. Twenty seven were demolished completely. Many remained standing but some of these were too dangerous to occupy at all. The severe damage to this and to the Mulifamiliar Juàrez made for a large percentage of the 30,00 housing units lost on that day. Nonoalco-Tlatelolco was declared a disaster area. What remained of the Nuevo Leon building and the Campeche building were the first to be demolished. This area would become the Nuevo Leon Plaza. The reconstruction contract the city government signed promised to return residents to their units in two years. The project lasted until late in the 1990s. Thirty buildings were partially destroyed, removing upper floors. Sixty buildings received minor repairs. Ten were reinforced. The initially budgeted money ran out in six years. Repairs made were shoddy, replacing door, floors and more with inferior materials. Even baths and integrated kitchens which were not damaged were taken out and replaced with inferior ones. Many, who could not afford to wait further, sold their units at bargain prices, often to those politically connected, or just abandoned them altogether, allowing squatters to move in.
Another quake in 1993, caused the demolition of the Atizapán and 20 de Noviembre buildings as well as the two Tecpan towers. The Torre Insignia was abandoned in the same year. Despite repair work being officially declared finished in 1995, buildings were left with large cracks in the wall, loose wiring, half done projects, unhinged door, inoperable elevators and more. This is in spite of the 600 million pesos spent on the effort. In that year, the complex was left with approximately 40,000 inhabitants in 90 buildings and 10,560 apartments.
A number of buildings in the complex were damaged once again by a 6.3 Guerrero
Guerrero
Guerrero officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guerrero is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo....
centered quake that passed through Mexico City in 2007.
The complex today
Today, the complex remains bounded by Avenida Manuel Gonzàlez, Paseo de la Reforma, Calzada Ricardo Flores Magòn and Avenida de los Insurgentes Norte. It occupies somewhat less space at 946,000m2, but remains as the largest apartment complex in Mexico. Currently 55,000 people live here with four out of ten being senior citizens and retired.Twenty eight percent of the space is dedicated to green spaces, sidewalks and roadway. Its main road extends from east to west, measuring 2.5 km. There are 22 schools, three health clinics, a hospital, three social clubs, a union office, four movie theaters, a Metro stop, offices of the SRE as well as 90 apartment buildings.
Since 1985, a number of preventative measures have been taken in the surviving buildings including inspections and the removal of accessory or decorative features that may be in danger of falling off. However, the deterioration of the area continues. Today, the socioeconomic level of the complex is low to very low. Many residents blame the government for failing to halt the deterioration. Others also blame residents’ failure to identify themselves as part of a community and as owners of or responsible for the complex’s common spaces. This is especially true of the parks and other spaces between the buildings.
The two major issues for the complex are crime and the structural soundness and maintenance of the area. The complex and surrounding neighborhoods such as Colonia Morelos
Colonia Morelos
Colonia Morelos is a colonia located just north of the historic center of Mexico City in the Cuauhtémoc borough. It has been a poor area since Aztec times, with many residents today living in large tenements called vecindades. The area, particularly the Tepito neighborhood, is known for crime,...
, Atlampla, Colonia Guerrero, Tepito
Tepito
Tepito is a barrio located in Colonia Morelos in the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City bordered by Avenida del Trabajo, Paseo de la Reforma, Eje 1 and Eje 2. Most of the neighborhood is taken up by the colorful tianguis or open-air market. Tepito’s economy has been linked to tianguis or traditional...
, Colonia Buenavista
Colonia Buenavista
Colonia Buenavista is a colonia or neighborhood in the Cuauhtémoc borough located northwest of the historic center of Mexico City. It has historically been a train terminal, and still is as the southern terminal of the Tren Suburbano commuter rail...
, and San Simon Tolonahuac and Colonia Peralvillo
Colonia Peralvillo
Colonia Peralvillo is a colonia located in the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City, just northwest of the city’s historic center. It has been a poor area since colonial times, but the modern colonia was not established until the late 19th and early 20th centuries...
are all high crime areas, which makes the security more difficult. The most common infractions are petty robbery, urination in public and public drinking. About three arrests per day are made for these offenses. However, there is insufficient police coverage for the complex. The area should have, as a minimum, 30 police assigned to each section, for a total of 90. The 17th Agrupamiento of Auxiliary Police is assigned to the area, but there are only four security modules are manned with six police each. Of the six mini police stations here, three are abandoned or used as storage, and the remaining three do not have telephone lines to allow residents to call directly. It is rare to find police on patrol here at night, and police from outside are reluctant to enter. This has led to the establishment of eleven known gangs, with members from age 12 to 20, which are based here. These gangs are dedicated to the sale of drugs, muggings and car theft. An area of 200,000 m2 suffers an average of six serious crimes per day and the robbery of fourteen cars per month. Some of the worst activity occurs in the Chihuahua building. Crime against residents is worst in the common areas, with about half having witnessed or been victim of a crime, usually robbery, both in the streets and in their homes and businesses. Homicide is also common.
Structural problems include the relatively fragile state of the remaining buildings and their susceptibility to further damage. The weight of the complex is causing the subsoil to sink. In addition to the problems remaining from inadequate earthquake repairs, many of the buildings are leaning as well. This has prompted monitoring from both the city government and several universities over the 2000s. Because of fears of further damage, residents of the complex have opposed construction projects such as a vehicular overpass on Flores Magnon street, and more recently, the construction and operation of Line 3 of the city’s Metrobus
Mexico City Metrobús
Metrobús is a bus rapid transit system in Mexico City, Mexico. It comprises 3 lines that traverse the city and connect with other forms of transit. It was officially opened to the public with service along Line 1 on 19 June 2005...
, which is being constructed in 2010.
In addition to the soundness of the structures, there are problems with homeless and squatters, graffiti, flooding due to lack of pumps, the lack of garbage collection leading to rat infestations and the destruction of parks and other common areas.
Principal buildings
- Torre Insignia or Torre Banobras
- 127 meters; 25 floors
- Centro Cultural Universitario Tlatelolco-Unam
- 100 meters; 24 floors
- 5 de Febrero
- 87 meters; 24 floors
- Chamizal
- 87 meters; 24 floors
- Coahuila
- 87 meters 24 floors
- Cuauhtèmoc
- 87 meters; floors
- Revoluciòn de 1910
- 87 meters; 24 floors
- Veracruz
- 87 meters; 24 floors
- Zacatecas
- 87 meters; 24 floors
- Chihuahua
- 58 meters; 15 floors
- Ignacio Allende
- 58 meters; 15 floors
- Ignacio Ramìrez
- 58 meters; 15 floors
- Ignacio Zaragoza
- 58 meters; 15 floors
- ISSSTE 10
- 58 meters; 15 floors
- ISSSTE 11
- 58 meters; 15 floors
- Jose Maria Arteaga
- 58 meters; 15 floors
- Miguel Hidalgo
- 58 meters; 15 floors
- Presidente Juarez
- 58 meters; 15 floors
- Tamaulipas
- 58 meters; 15 floors
Buildings which no longer exist
- 20 de Noviembre 87 meters 24 floors
- Atizapan 87 meters 24 floors
- Huizachal 87 meters 24 floors
- Oaxaca 87 meters 24 floors
- Tecpan (Jalisco) 87 meters 24 floors
- Tecpan II (Oaxaca) 87 meters 24 floors
- Churubusco 58 meters 15 floors
- Guelatao 58 meters 16 floors
- Nuevo León 58 meters 15 floors
- Ignacio Comonfort 8 floors
- Ignacio M. Altamirano 8 floors
- Jesús Terán 8 floors
- Ponciano Arriaga 8 floors