The borough is home to a number of landmarks such as the World Trade Center Mexico City, the Estadio Azul, the Plaza México and the Polyforum Cultural Siqueiros.

[11] The most important colonias are Nápoles, Del Valle, Narvarte, Mixcoac, Portales, Ciudad de los Deportes, San José Insurgentes, San Pedro de los Pinos, Xoco, Insurgentes Mixcoac, General Anaya, Noche Buena and Nativitas.

At this time, in preparation for the 1968 Olympics, the project moved forward with a total eleven spaces centered on the Hotel de México building.

The building is also a museum hosting twelve panels on the outside walls and 2,400 meters of interior painted with a mural called "The March of Humanity" by David Siqueiros.

[22] The main archeological finds of the area are Aztec/Mexica and include those in Mixcoac, Actipan, Tlacoquemécatl, Xoco, Portales, Ticomán, La Piedad, Ahuehuatlan, Barrio de San Juan, San Pedro de los Pinos Acachinaco (Nativitas) and one at the Metro Zapata station.

[6] Except for small villages on the east and west side, most of the territory of the modern borough was covered by the waters of Lake Texcoco during the pre-Hispanic period.

[24] As Lake Texcoco dried, the area became dotted with villages under the hacienda system and had some important roads leading south from Mexico City.

[23] The Cortés family would lose their Coyoacán lands by the early 17th century but as the lake dried, the area remained a rural zone just south of Mexico City.

In 1826, much of Coyoacán, along with what are now Tlalpan, Xochimilco and Mexicalzingo became part of the State of Mexico, splitting off much of the Benito Juárez territory from Hernán Cortés’ old Coyoacan lands.

These troops enacted a diversionary tactic at the Portales Hacienda, which allowed them to circle around and gain access to Chapultepec a day later.

During the Reform War the San Pedro de los Pinos and Mixcoac areas were Liberal strongholds under General Santos Degollado.

[25] During the Mexican Revolution, the Zapatistas took control of the south of the Federal District, including parts of Benito Juárez like Mixcoac.

These include doctors such as Nicolás San Juan, lawyers such as Artemio de Valle Arizpe and Jose Linares, and engineers such as Gabriel Mancera.

This is the origin of modern "colonia" neighborhoods such as Del Valle, California, Berlín, Carrera Lardizábal, La Laguna and El Zacate.

Later in the decade, development would be more orderly and created subdivisions in Mixcoac, Tacubaya, San Pedro de los Pinos, Actipan, Navarrete and other areas.

[10][27] In addition, a number of colonias were created on the east side to meet the demand for middle class housing, resulting in Moderna, Portales, Santa Cruz, Postal, Álamos, Niños Héroes and Independencia.

Most of the Benito Juárez area was part of the Central Department, with a small section belonging to the municipality of General Anaya.

[19][27] Another reorganization in 1941, split the Central Department into four entities, Benito Juárez along with Cuauhtémoc, Venustiano Carranza and Miguel Hidalgo.

This was part of a process of the sudden growth of Mexico City in general, which expanded over Benito Juárez and south into Coyoacán and other southern boroughs.

[28][32] There is strong economic pressure to convert residential structures and areas into commercial units mostly due to the borough centralized location and accessibility by road.

[33] The building of massive apartment complexes has caused complaints in the borough as neighbors of these developments claim that crime rates go up.

[34] The development of housing for the middle class and above from the 1920s on has meant that Benito Juárez the gap between rich and poor is less here than in other boroughs such as Miguel Hidalgo.

[9][36] The borough states that one of the main reasons for the high crime rates is that delinquents from other parts of the city come to the area looking for victims.

[39] Most of the crime takes place in eleven colonias including Insurgentes Mixcoac, San Pedro de los Pinos, Nápoles, la Unidad Miguel Alemán, Del Valle Norte, Narvarte Poniente, Niños Héroes, Nativitas, Portales Norte, Del Lago and Álamos.

[9] The borough was ranked with the highest standard of living in the country of Mexico according to the Consejo Nacional de Población.

[40] Avenida Insurgentes is the most important commercial area for the borough, with a large concentration of bars and restaurants from fast food to international cuisine at all price ranges.

[42] Three tourist routes are planned for the borough to bring visitors to the area's museums, historic sites, commercial centers, bars and restaurants via the city's Turibús.

[43] Within the borough, about twenty percent of the population live in medium level conditions such as those in the Independencia, Nativitas, Portales Oriente, Residenciales and Villa de Cortés neighborhoods.

[42] The borough is planning two major bike routes through the area in order to support a citywide effort to promote this form of transportation.

These will be concentrated on Pilares and Adolfo Prieto streets, for east-west and north-south traffic respectively, connecting with bike paths in other boroughs.