Ecatepec de Morelos—also known as both San Cristóbal Ecatepec or simply Ecatepec—is located just north of Mexico City, within a valley stretching from the Valley of Mexico to Sierra de Guadalupe. Originally an Aztec settlement, the earliest records date it to the year 1168 as part of a network of settlements, but the actual age of the city is likely centuries older. Since the Spanish conquest, the city continued to grow. The population further exploded as it entered the 20th century, with its urban sprawl now deeply connected to the populous Valley of Mexico.

Despite its centuries-old foundations and its relative proximity to Mexico City, the city is fairly poor. Far from the prosperous sprawling suburbs of the outer edges of American cities, the city is dotted with thousands of illegal homes built in shanty towns and slums which stretch through much of the city. There remains very little green areas left, and as Mexico City continues to industrialize at its rapid pace, the slums seem to only grow ever larger.