KidZania Ztory

The kids of the world became utterly inspired. Looking at the way the adults were running the world had become an exercise in exasperation. From a kid’s perspective things were just not going as well as they could be and it didn’t look to be improving anytime soon. 

It didn’t just happen overnight; it was a long time in coming. And it didn’t happen just in one place, it occurred in the minds of numerous cultures across every continent. 

Under children's perspective, governments operated inefficiently, societies were becoming inequitable, valuable resources were routinely squandered and values were seemingly more and more negotiable. With principles wavering and violence increasing it became apparent that kids were going to be inheriting a less than an ideal world. Something had to be done and they were the ones prepared to do it.

The birth of their idea was the result of likeminded thinking, a state of mind, more than a physical place. It was the collective thinking in the imagining of something better by kids all over the world that led to its creation.

Unencumbered by race, religion, or culture, the spirit of their idea transcended even geography to be rooted in a utopian vision of what a well-functioning, ideal world could be. This was a world full of opportunities where kids could assert themselves and be responsible. This was a world where kids could think and act independently from adults sharing ideas and gaining knowledge.

They would need to increase their skills, expand their knowledge and gain experience. Especially experience, all kinds of experience in every type of profession and with every type of technology imaginable.

If they were to be ready to apply their ideas once they joined the adult world at the age of 16, training and experimentation were going to be essential to their plans. But first, they were going to need to identify what was really important for them and then start asserting those RightZ.

Like points on a compass, these RightZ would be there to guide the kids in achieving their goals. They are the foundations for real world preparations and the achievement of happiness.

To Be

The power to be self-determining, unique and free in harmony among humankind. This right is grounded in the eternal idea of freedom: the power to act, to speak, and to think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

To Know

The capacity to be curious and experimental when educating oneself. This right demands open access and an open mind for the attainment of knowledge and experience, challenging the bearer to always be willing to question the status quo.
 

To Create

The faculty to be innovational, to dream up new things. This right appeals for the discovery of original perceptions to design effective and valuable projects; the initiative of new solutions to humankind problems with original and useful thoughts.

To Share

The benefit to be generous and thoughtful to oneself and to others. This right fosters the belief of a strong ethic, a willingness to collaborate, to work together in ways rarely imagined, to shape a spirit based on giving.

 

To Care

The responsibility to be supportive and proactive of the environment. This right is a commitment of awareness and involvement in the welfare and protection of the natural world.

To Play

The ability to be playful and participatory in life. This right is rooted in the ageless desire to relax and enjoy life; to devote one’s energy and time towards making life’s journey a fun and fulfilling one.

What had begun as a shared mindset of annoyance at the adult world inefficiencies was now becoming a more definitive promise. Kids proclaimed their sovereignty as a group united in purpose and announced their immediate independence from the adult world.

Kids wrote the Declaration of Independence document as a proclamation of their independence from adults and as the unequivocal announcement of their new world’s existence. While the exact year and birthplace of this declaration is uncertain due to the inadvertent smudging of the document’s location and date, the day itself, September 10th, is undisputable.

The spirit that drove the kids to want to take action was the same spirit that ultimately drove them to call themselves a Nation: their ideals were universal, where no geographical boundaries defined them, physical borders were nonexistent and no cultural differences restricted them.

Their first leap was just in calling themselves a Nation. A Nation united on ideals rather than geography that would be a place all kids could call home no matter where they actually lived. Born from a spirit to make the world a better place, theirs would be a Nation for the ages.

After some consideration and a lot of rooting around, the kids agreed upon the name for their Nation: KidZania. Roughly translated it means Land of Kool Kids.

This made sense to the kids since they wanted their Nation to be first and foremost about kids. It was perfect, KidZania the Nation was a land of kids that spanned the whole globe!

The kids were now set to getting ready for a better world. The world they envisioned demanded their preparation. This required the creation of a special place just for them. They had already declared their independence. Crazy as it sounded, now they would found a city.

They chose the idea of creating their own city because cities are places where people live, interact and work independently while contributing to a greater whole. Surely their world would want to foster a similar degree of cooperation and interaction. And cities were also the kind of place where people could make friends, share ideas and care for those around them. Certainly those types of actions were important to the kids’ world too.

The first KidZania city was founded in Santa Fe, Mexico City on September 1st 1999. While KidZania is for every kid, everywhere and for all times, it was built in this city first because Mexico City has the largest population of children in the world. No other place in the world has so many kids living and interacting in one location. This KidZania city is nowadays known as our Capital City.

The day the first KidZania city was founded thousands of children came. They quickly embraced the city as their own and became passionate about its activities. Their participation provided useful feedback to the city planners striving to meet the needs of the city’s ever-growing population.

In establishing a system of government, the founders of KidZania were looking to regulate the operations of their cities and the interactions of its CitiZenry. They knew their Nation needed a structure for governing and that they themselves needed to learn more about how governments really work. Therefore, with the help of adults in tune with their passion and purpose, they devised a democratic system of government.

This democratic system of government was defined to work in two branches:

Legislative Branch

CongreZZ is the Legislative Branch of KidZania. It operates at the city level of government under the care of twenty appointed KidZanians aged seven years and older, who are naturalized CitiZens charged with keeping the city’s adult ministers and bureaucrats in touch with the welfare of the community. CongreZZ kids as they are officially called, meet to discuss current cultural trends, new technologies and the likes and dislikes of their CitiZenry. 

Administrative Branch

The administrative branch is KidZania’s chief directorial body and is the larger of the two branches. It is staffed by adult government collaborators and is structured to administer into three levels of Government. There is the Central Government housed in Mexico City that is led by KidZania’s Chief Executive called the President of KidZania; there are the State Governments organized per country and led by Governors; and there are the City Governments that operate at the local level and are governed by a Mayor.

• Central Government: led by the President as the head of the Central Government, the President’s main responsibility is to ensure that the Nation and its CitiZens act in compliance with KidZania’s fundamental RightZ. He represents the Nation at the international level and is required to incorporate new States to KidZania, as well as to look for the prosperity of the Nation
• State Government: the Governor is responsible for how the State is run, overseeing the development of new Cities, the incorporation of Industry Partners and regularly reporting to its CitiZens and Government collaborators on the State progress
• Metropolitan Government: Mayors are representing not only the CitiZens but the different industries and collaborators working for the city, they have the responsibility of providing a detailed service to CitiZens and tourists, and of supervising the proper operation of the city and guaranteeing high quality resources