Paseo Acoxpa

Photos ©2023 Paseo Acoxpa, used by permission. 

Paseo Acoxpa is a giant shopping center, one of the important ones in Mexico City’s giant Coapa area. Opened in 2010, the complex developers intended the site as a semi-privatized “street” with open pedestrian areas. They included access to the private Hospital Angeles Acoxpa on the northeast corner. The extra-wide design served the space especially well during the 2020-21 pandemic. Wide-open spaces and fresh air were the wave of the future.

The Paseo was built using lots of granite paving stones, ceramic tile, and aluminum. For all that, it’s a few steps ahead of the formica and particle-board prevalent in similar shopping centers.

The mall is just across the street from the famous Villa Lázaro Cárdenas Market. While it’s a lot smaller, market vendors prepare food fresh from local sources here, and without the glossy plastic menus. On the other side, the Paseo actually abuts the parking lot of a Walmart complex which is not integrated with the tree-lined Calzada Acoxpa nor with the neighborhood.