Quitzapatzaro

Quitzapatzaro 𐐗𐐶𐐨𐐻𐑆𐐹𐐰𐐻𐑆𐐰𐐬
Capital city
Clockwise from top left: Mictlahuic city center, Trans-bay cityscape, Coatl Tower, Ezcalixatl bridge
Country	Zacapican
Federal Atlepetl	Quitzapatzaro
Established	280 CE
Tlayacame	4 Mictlahuic Quetzalco Kayatepec Caltzalantli
Government
• Altepepixqui	Conitl Chaan
• First Altepehuaque	Niciyotl Waranaca
• Chief Magistrate	Miran Metlayu
Area
• Total	219 km2 (85 sq mi)
Elevation	17 m (56 ft)
Population  (2022 census)
• Total	4,111,215
• Density	18,773/km2 (48,620/sq mi)

Quitzapatzaro (Nahuatl: 𐐗𐐶𐐨𐐻𐑆𐐹𐐰𐐻𐑆𐐰𐐬), formally the Autonomous Federal District (𐐓𐐯𐐿𐐶𐐰𐐿𐐰𐑌 𐐓𐑊𐐰𐐿𐐰𐑇𐐬𐑇𐐬𐐸𐐿𐐰𐐷𐐬𐐻𐑊, Tecuacan Tlacaxoxohcayotl), is the capital of the United Zacapine Republics and its third largest city. It is located along the west coast of Zacapican, surrounded on three sides by the Zacaco Republic and the Makrian ocean on the fourth. The city has a population of 4 million inhabiting the area of 219 square kilometers split across the northern and southern shores of Quitzapatzaro bay. The city holds the unique status of a Federal Altepetl, an Altepetl-style municipal government under the direct supervision of the federal government without the intervention of a constituent republican government but granted certain powers usually reserved for constituent republics. As the political center to the Zacapine federation, it is the headquarters of the national government and most of its agencies and host to many foreign embassies and diplomatic missions. Quitzapatzaro is a major center of finance, real estate and insurance, serving as the second economic hub of the country second to Angatahuaca. It is closely linked with the economy of the Zacaco Republic and its major industrial centers in Tequitinitlan and Tecolotlan.

The city of Quitzapatzaro is of Purépecha historical patrimony. It is one of the oldest Purépecha colonies in Zacapican and served as the de facto center of the western trade league for centuries before the Aztapaman conquest of the region. Due to its highly strategic position and good natural harbor in Quitzapatzaro bay, the city retained a regional importance in the Aztapaman empire as one of its key western ports and became one of the main shipbuilding centers of the famous Red Sail navy of Aztapamatlan thanks to the availability of timber both in the surrounding hills and in regions upriver accessible from Quitzapatzaro by boat. The city was chosen as the new national capital after the Zacapine Revolution thanks to its central position in the west coast, in keeping with the revolutionary goal of shifting political power away from the old core in Angatahuaca and towards the more populated centers of agriculture and economic activity in the west. Although the city of Quitzapatzaro and the Autonomous Federal District were initially separate entities, the two were merged in 1969 as the city had expanded to encompass almost the entirety of the district.

Urban Structure

The city of Quitzapatzaro is divided into its four Tlayacame, four quadrants roughly centered on Teocuitla island in the center of Quitzapatzaro bay. With the two northern and two southern Tlayacame are hemmed in by the surrounding hills and rough terrain which have resulted in the relatively high density of Quitzapatzaro's urban growth. The north and south sides of the city are connected by a series of trans-bay bridges and tunnels, although the major geographical barrier of the bay between the two halves of the city have given each an distinct and somewhat disjointed nature giving Quitzapatzaro the character of two different cities in a conurbation rather than a single urban center. The north of the city is home to many of the cultural landmarks of the city, institutions dedicated to the arts and culture, as well as the political and financial activity of the city. By contrast, southern Quitzapatzaro is the home of the city's industrial activity and its scientific centers.

Mictlahuic is the oldest and wealthiest Tlayacatl, serving as the city center of Quitzapatzaro. It is home to the old city, defined by its defensible hills upon which the city was built in antiquity and expanded in the medieval era. These same hills provide a stable bedrock for the construction of skyscrapers, with almost all of the city's tallest buildings located in the Mictlahuic quadrant. Mictlahuic occupies the northwest of Quitzapatzaro. The headquarters of the national government, the executive and legislative buildings are located in the west of tlayacatl, close to the opening of the bay and the open ocean in a Federal complex clustered together with agency headquarters in the west. Diplomatic missions of foreign nations are likewise found primarily in the Mictlahuic quadrant among the banks, office buildings and cultural institutions of the tlayacatl. The highly developed Mictlahuic transitions towards the east into Quetzalco, the second Tlayacatl of northern Quitzapatazaro. Quetzalco is home of the Quitzapatzaro University campus as well as many art and science museums. The Tlayacatl is known for its extensive public parks, planned according to the garden city principle.

Caltzalantli, the southeast quadrant of the city, is primarily a mid 20th century development built according to the Altepetlianca concept of self-contained workers villages interspersed with factories and production centers. Due to the proximity of its residents to sources of pollution in the form of industrial facilities and storage yards, the tlayacatl has high levels of health problems among its residents which are also generally the poorest among Quitzapatzaro citizens, in stark contrast to the Quetzalco tlayacatl directly across the bay. These conditions are similar in the Kayatepec quadrant of the southwest, home to a major immigrant community of Kayan origin for which the district was named. Kayatepec is home of the port facilities of Quitzapatzaro, including drydocks and shipbuilding infrastructure.