Colonia/delegación

[poli]

Sé que se usa esos terminos para delinear vecindarios en México, D.F., pero no estoy completamente seguro como se los usan. ¿Me puede ayudar?

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

This can be too broad to make a summary, but here's what I can think of. If you need to know something else, I'll clarify or develop more.


"Colonias" are found all over the country, in every city or small town. In rural areas, "colonias" can be settlements that are physically separated from their nearest town, but they're too small to be considered a town themselves; however, they're considered part of a town and part of a "municipio" anyway.

An urban "colonia" is generally a housing development sharing something in common, like having been built during the same period of time, and a certain household income homogeneity (which usually changes over time); and they vary in geographical size and number of inhabitants.
In Mexico City, there are many "colonias" in every "delegación", and one "colonia" may be considered part of two "delegaciones", but this is not the general case.

As far as I know, no "colonia" has a direct local authority or representative before the "presidente municipal" or the "delegado".



Now, Mexico City has a special status, because it is the see of Federal Powers; so, although it has a local governor and a local legislative power, it doesn't hold the same liberty as the rest of states of the Republic, which are "free and sovereign" before the Federation. That is to say that although Mexico City's authorities may be somehow compared to local state authorities, there are decisions and functions for which they are not empowered.

Mexico City's delegaciones" are political and administrative divisions that were made to facilitate citizens' contact with governmental authorities. They're comparable to "municipios", and although the "delegados" are elected by citizens, their functions are not all those of a "presidente municipal".
However they hold administrative power over housing, commercial licenses, cleaning services, urban maintenance…

[poli]

Ya veo. Es muy parecido a Nueva York. Los boroughs son las delegaciones y los neighborhoods (o vecindarios)son las colonias (Flatbush Brooklyn).

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Thanks for that piece of information, Poli. I had never seen what NYC administration was like.

Just one vocabulary note: Although they might be confused, "vecindarios" and "barrios" are smaller than a "colonia" here.
A "vecindario" is just the physical proximity of houses surrounding yours (one or two blocks).
"Barrios" are usually a few blocks inside the same "colonia", but they have more to do with people's sense of belonging and identity.

[poli]

Then, barrio is the best word. In fact there is a neighborhood in Manhattan called El Barrio.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

If you think about people's integration into a place, yes it is, but "colonias" and "delegaciones" are rather administrative/political divisions.

[Villa]

La palabra que me viene a la mente es:
"la vecindad". vecindad=neighborhood, vicinity

Estaba pensando en el programa mexicano "El Chavo de Ocho"
donde habia oido la palabra vecindad.

El programa trata sobre las vivencias de un grupo de personas que habitan en una "vecindad"
mexicana donde su protagonista, El Chavo, lleva a cabo travesuras junto con sus amigos que
ocasionan malentendidos y discusiones entre los mismos vecinos, por lo general de tono cómico.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Una vecindad es un conjunto pequeño y cerrado de casas o departamentos dentro de un vecindario. Normalmente están situados en zonas de bajo ingreso o en urbanizaciones muy antiguas.