With its population of 1.3 million, Guadalajara is only the eighth largest municipality in Mexico, but, thanks to its bustling downtown core and wealth of historic buildings and monuments, it is arguably the most important — and without doubt the most emblematic.
As the metropolitan area (population 5.1 million) continues to expand, the city of Guadalajara — hemmed in by the Huentitan Canyon to the east and by three other municipalities (Zapopan, Tonala and Tlaquepaque) — has been forced to utilize every inch of its territory. This has meant that for several decades municipal Guadalajara’s population has barely grown, while more and more inhabitants populate the metro area’s nine other municipalities.
Although Guadalajara has always been a magnet for tourists, as the 20th century drew to a close it had become clear that the city center had lost much of its appeal for many Tapatios, who were becoming increasingly enticed by sparkling new commercial malls in outlying areas of the metropolitan area. The downtown zone had also become overrun with ambulant vendors and established commerce was being badly hit.
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