The complex sits on the banks of the Río de la Plata and boasts one of the city's largest green areas, as parts of it are presently an ecological reserve.

Ciudad Universitaria is located on the limit between the northern Buenos Aires barrios of Belgrano and Núñez, on the banks of the Río de la Plata.

It is within walking distance of Club Atlético River Plate's Estadio Monumental and the Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, one of Buenos Aires' two international airports.

[3] Founded in 1821, the University of Buenos Aires had its first seat on Perú street, in what is now known as the Manzana de las Luces, a compound previously owned by the Society of Jesus.

[6] In 1958, during the administration of Rector Risieri Frondizi, a decree issued by the President of Argentina granted the terrains where Ciudad Universitaria presently stands to the University of Buenos Aires.

The terrains were land reclaimed from the Río de la Plata on the Northern end of Buenos Aires City, in the neighborhood of Belgrano.

The blueprints followed a proposal by Swiss architect Le Corbusier from 1938 (in collaboration with Ferrari Hardoy and Kurchan), and re-adapted by the city government's 1962 Plan Regulador.

The final projects were drawn in 1959 by a team of FADU architects, made up of Francisco and Raúl Rossi, Elio Vivaldi, Enrique Massarotti, Alberto Trozzoli and Florencio Alvo.

[11] In 1986, FADU's Secretariat of University Habitat drew an "urbanization plan" with participation of Mederico Faivre, Carlos Maffeis, María Cecilia Ceim, Mario Sacco, among other architects.

In 2006, as part of the construction plans of the Parque de la Memoria, the city government demolished and burned a number of precarious homes where up to 87 families had been living.

[17] In 2007, a group of people founded a self-described "eco-village" named Velatropa in the abandoned groundwork of Pabellón V. The village's homes were built using recycled plastic and clay.

[18][19] The settlement was evicted in November 2018 by the city government, which alleged it was temporarily displacing Velatropa's inhabitants due to security concerns regarding the upcoming G20 Summit, to be held some 7 kilometers away from the place.