Vecindad

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Vecindad (Spanish 'neighbourhood') is a Mexican term for a building containing several (often low-income oriented) housing units. Originally a form of housing created through the subdivision of vacated elite housing in historic centres in Mexican cities, where rooms around a central patio were let to families who shared facilities (such as lavatories and/or kitchens) with the other tenants. Also purpose-built vecindades were constructed in the early 20th century to meet the demand for central low income housing and only resembling the original vecindades by having small units and shared facilities. Today there is no universally accepted definition of what constitutes a vecindad and the term is used ambiguously.

The word "vecindad" can also refer to a person's legal residence, in terms of a city, province, or state, not just a neighborhood. In Guatemala, there's a national ID referred to as carnet de vecindad; not mattering the actual "neighborhood" but giving the person a legal document saying they are from that country.